Hello World
by Tgonthefiery
Summary: When Taylor triggered, the world stopped making sense. A gang war is brewing. The Endbringers keep coming. And now Taylor has to help defend her city. With a little help from her friends, of course. AU, early canon divergence, eventual Femslash.
1. Shutdown 1-1

**This has been buried in the dark corners of my laptop for the past month. I figured I may as well put it up – if anyone actually wants me to continue this, let me know. It isn't the best, but eh, I try. **

**Shutdown 1.1**

_Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?_

Those…echoes. Bouncing off both the physical walls of the locker, my current prison, and the metaphorical ones constructed in my head. I'd only screamed for a few minutes, but those sounds, those begs for help, they kept coming back to me. They didn't want to leave this…this place. Didn't want to leave _me_.

_Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?_

Everything was hurting. My bones ached, my head was pounding, my eyes refused to stay open for more than a few seconds. I was so…

_Helpless._

I could barely move at this point. How long had I in here? Hours? Days? Or had it only been a few minutes, and I was just blowing this all out of proportion?

_Come on, you're not stupid enough to actually believe that, are you?_

Probably hours. If it had been days, there was no way I'd still be alive.

_You aren't hungry. You aren't even thirsty. Come on. Just bloody consider it for a _second_. _

It didn't sit right with me. I couldn't understand how I was even conscious. I hadn't slept for the whole time I'd been in the locker. I felt pain but…

_You aren't tired_.

Was it national 'Mess with Taylor Day' or something? Because I was starting to think I was going crazy. I was certainly hearing voices in my head, and they were definitely getting louder.

_Would you just fucking–_

Yeah, definitely getting louder. If only there was a goddamned on and off switch–

**Welcome, User!**

I stared. A large blue box had just appeared in front of me, displaying some sort of…welcome message? And it was still appearing even when my eyes were closed. What the actual f–

**Would you like to change your Username? (Y/N)**

I had to be going crazy. Yeah, I was hallucinating. There was no way that a bunch of text boxes has just popped up in front of my face in this stupid locker. God, even when I _did _move tampons were brushing against me.

_Wait a second. Was I a…cape?_

Was that even possible? I'd read about trigger events, but…well, this was…huh.

I decided to give it a try. What harm could it do? Worst case scenario, I didn't really have powers and I was just hallucinating. I decided to ignore exactly what it would mean if I really _was _hallucinating.

**Taylor.**

**Welcome, Taylor!**

I was staring again. This was slightly unnerving – I was still confused as to what was going on.

And then suddenly, three bars appeared in the top right corner of my vision. Green, red and blue. Just like the text boxes, they didn't go away when I closed my eyes – not that I could really tell the difference. I couldn't see an inch in front of my face. What…what the hell were these bars supposed to be? Suddenly they grew, just large enough for me to read what they were labelled as, as well as the four smaller icons underneath them.

**HP: 65/100 (REG 2 HP/min) (Negated by Bleeding)**

**Stamina: 100/100 (REG 30 Stamina/min)**

**MP: 20/20 (REG 2 MP/min)**

**Status Conditions:**

**Short-sighted: Next Full Rest**

**Clinically Depressed: Next Full Rest**

**Bleeding (Negates HP REG): 2:43**

**Mildly Poisoned (-3 HP/min): 4:30**

And what the hell was that supposed to mean?

…_crap. I'm in a fucking video game, aren't I?_

I was pretty sure I wasn't hallucinating now. This was way too far to be some sort of surreal mind trick. This was real. I was a cape, and my power was living life like a fucking video game. I had Health, Stamina, Magic or Mana, and even Status Conditions. According to my interface thingy, my Short-sightedness and Depression (hell, I hadn't even known I was depressed) were both Status Conditions. While Bleeding and Poison both had timers next to them which were ticking down by the second, Short-sighted and Clinically Depressed both only read 'Next Full Rest'. So, did that mean they'd just go away when I went to sleep?

It was only then that it hit me that this power of mine, if my interface wasn't lying, would allow me to function at peak human condition with nothing more than a quick nap. If that was so, and I wouldn't need to wear glasses anymore…this was overpowered. If this was like a game, then could I level up? Become more powerful?

**Stats.**

Nothing.

**Status.**

**Username: Taylor**

**Occupation: Student**

**LV. 1 (Next LV. 0/1000 XP)**

**HP: 61/100 (REG 2 HP/min)**

**Stamina: 100/100 (REG 30 Stamina/min)**

**MP: 20/20 (REG 2 MP/min)**

**Title: None**

**STR: 2**

**VIT: 2**

**INT: 8**

**WIS: 7**

**DEX: 2**

**CHA: 1**

**LUK: 0**

**AP: 0**

**$: 0**

…oh hell yes. Jackpot. So, everything was listed here. But what the hell were the extra stat acronyms supposed to stand for?

**Strength: 2**

**Vitality: 2**

**Intelligence: 8**

**Wisdom: 7**

**Dexterity: 2**

**Charisma: 1**

**Luck: 0**

**Attribute Points: 0**

**Money: 0**

Thank you, magical subconscious, for knowing exactly which ones I meant. My LUK being so low actually explained a lot. There was no way that my life was just _that _shitty for no reason. At least, that was what I told myself. It was less painful, in a way.

As for the other things…CHA was low as hell. If I could improve that, would the bullying stop? Would life get better?

_Yeah, maybe you should think about that _after _you get outside the locker._

And _there _was the problem. Considering my measly 2 STR, there was no way I was going to get out of this locker without a lot of difficulty. Plus, I was still Bleeding and Mildly Poisoned. Although, both were down to under a minute. I just needed to hold out a bit more, and then I'd be fine. At least, I hoped so. Couldn't ever assume anything – especially now that I had _powers_.

I was still trying to wrap my head around it. Me, a _cape_? I'd always dreamed of being like Alexandria, ever since I was a little kid. Would my new powers let me reach that level?

Well, only one way to find out for sure.

**New Quest: Get the Hell Out!**

**Get out of your locker.**

**Success: + 1000 XP**

**Failure: Humiliation, -1 CHA, ?**

…my fucking power gave me quests. God, this was crazy. But if what it said was true, if I didn't get out, my reputation was even more screwed than humanly possible.

Now I just had to make sure I didn't fail.

As soon as both Bleeding and Mildly Poisoned were cancelled, I slammed my foot into the door of the locker, wincing as I felt a wave of pain shoot through my leg.

**-4 HP.**

Yeah, not my brightest moment. Probably should have tried hitting it with a little less force. Still, I tried it again.

**-1 HP.**

It still hurt like hell, though. Well, at least I could literally see my HP creeping up as it slowly regenerated. I could still get out of here.

**-2 HP.**

I used both feet that time. The door still didn't budge.

_Of course it isn't budging, it's a fucking _metal door_. _

**-3 HP.**

God, I was getting desperate. Was Panicked a possible Status Condition? Because if so, I was definitely getting close to it.

** -5 HP.**

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Damage Resistance'!**

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Basic Unarmed Combat'! **

…holy fuck.

**Damage Resistance (Passive) LV. 1 5.5%**

**All damage is decreased by 1%.**

**Basic Unarmed Combat (Passive) LV. 1 1.5%**

**\+ 1% Unarmed Melee Damage.**

**Increases knowledge of basic unarmed combat.**

Okay, my powers were way too overpowered. I kicked at the door again.

**-2 HP**

Again.

**-3 HP**

And again.

**-6 HP**

God, I was loving this. I glanced at my HP.

**HP: 42/100 (REG 2 HP/min)**

Not _too _bad. But waiting for my REG to kick in couldn't hurt. So I waited a few minutes, long enough to think everything through.

I had a weird power, but it was pretty damn overpowered. It let me take something basic and make it _better_. Hell, if Damage Resistance was a skill, what else was?

Well, probably everything.

**Damage Resistance is LV. 2!**

God, I loved my power. Well, time to get kicking again.

**-4 HP.**

**-3 HP.**

**-8 HP.**

**\+ 1 STR**

Huh. So I could earn extra points for my stats by doing basic things without levelling up? Well, I definitely wasn't going to complain. I tried my best to twist my head around to look at the locker door and see if there was any visible damage. God, it was dark. I could see the door's faint outline – I just needed to–

_Observe._

**Locker Door**

**HP: 33/100**

**You have unlocked the Active Ability Observe!**

At this point, I was barely even surprised. My power seemed to pull random shit out of the air whenever I needed something.

**Observe (Active) LV. 1 5%**

**Allows you to observe people or objects and gain information about them. **

Well, at least now I knew that I didn't have far to go. Soon, I'd be out of this stupid locked.

_And then I can go home_.

I kept kicking. With each kick the door's HP went down by 1-3. I was getting closer. I had to pause to allow REG to kick in every once in a while, but I was getting closer.

**\+ 1 STR**

**\+ 1 VIT**

**Damage Resistance is LV. 3!**

**Basic Unarmed Combat is LV. 2!**

3 HP left on the door. But I only had 10.

_God, this is taking too long._

**-8 HP.**

The door flew off its hinges, clanging loudly against the floor. A flood of blood covered tampons poured out of the locker as I quickly pushed myself out, yelping as I slipped back and hit my head on the floor.

**-1 HP.**

**Quest Complete: Get the Hell Out!**

**Get out of your locker.**

**Success: +1000 XP**

**Failure: Humiliation, -1 CHA, ?**

**You are now LV. 2!**

**\+ 5 AP**

**\+ 10 HP, Stamina & MP**

Well, that was good. Without any hesitation, I stuck all 5 of my AP into VIT. My REG was way too low.

Alright, I had to take this easy. I had 1 HP left, and I _really _didn't want to die because I did something incredibly stupid like trip and fall.

_Back to the waiting game, huh?_

I lay on my back for 12 minutes. I wasn't taking any chances, not after getting out of that stupid locker. The hall was dark, the only source of light being the occasional car as its headlights swept over the school and briefly passed through the windows. I could barely see – my glasses were broken, and the darkness didn't help in the slightest. But eventually, the time came when I had to move.

**Username: Taylor**

**Occupation: Student**

**LV. 2 (Next LV. 50/1500 XP)**

**HP: 43/110 (REG 3.5 HP/min) **

**Stamina: 110/110 (REG 35 Stamina/min)**

**MP: 20/20 (REG 2 MP/min)**

**Title: None**

**STR: 4**

**VIT: 3+5 = 8**

**INT: 8**

**WIS: 3**

**DEX: 2**

**CHA: 1**

**LUK: 0**

43 HP would have to do. I couldn't wait any longer. I needed to sleep. Not because I felt tired, but because I seriously didn't want to have to wear glasses for the rest of my life. Groaning, I used the lockers to support myself as I pulled myself up to my feet, swearing as my glasses fell off my face. They clattered against the ground, landing in the midst of the pile of tampons.

_Don't need them anymore. They're broken, anyway. _

I ignored them, considering that tomorrow they wouldn't benefit me at all. Short-sightedness would be cured, and glasses would only make my vision worse after that.

**\+ 1 WIS**

And there it was again.

I walked slowly at first – I was hesitant, uncertain. But as my REG continued to restore my HP, my anxiety went away. I strode forward with a purpose, a small spring in my step as I headed for Winslow's entrance. Past darkened hallways and pitch black classrooms, leaving the mess of my locker behind me. As soon as I stepped outside, I received a new text box popped up in front of me.

**New Quest: Return**

**Get home safely.**

**Success: + 500 XP, that Proper Rest you want so badly**

**Failure: How the hell are you going to fail this? **

So my power had some snark. Well, I supposed I could deal with that. But right now, I needed to do what it said.

I started running home.

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Running'!**

**You have unlocked the Active Ability 'Sprint'! **

**\+ 1 VIT**


	2. Shutdown 1-2

**The first arc is taking a very different direction now. To be honest, that's a good thing. Thank you for all the responses, guys, because it means the world to me that people are really paying attention to what I'm doing. **

**Shutdown 1.2**

The run home started off well. Or, as well as a run could go in Brockton Bay. Didn't get mugged, didn't get yelled at by some passing asshole, and despite the fact that I was covered in blood and vomit, I was feeling pretty good.

I should have known my prediction was too good to be true.

**Quest in Progress: Return**

**Get home safely.**

**Success: + 500 XP, that Proper Rest you want so badly**

**Failure: How the hell are you going to fail this? **

Very funny, power, very funny.

Get home safely?

Ha.

More like get home _alive_.

The first gunshot cracked through the air only a few minutes after I started heading home – not long after, the rest followed. 3 shots in quick succession, then a louder one reverberated down the street towards me. I stopped in my tracks. Cars squealed to a halt. Dozens of birds rose from the surrounding trees, their panicked cries filling the air as the gunshots steadily increased in number. I started to run in the other direction, until I heard the shots coming from there as well.

I was caught in middle of a gang shootout.

_Fuck._

My power _had _to be doing this intentionally – making me feel confident and then totally destroying any last remnant of said confidence.

Thanks a lot, power.

"Take this, ya fuckin' chinks!" someone yelled, followed by a stream of bullets flying across the street and narrowly avoiding the sea of cars between the two gangs. Ah, so the Empire Eighty-Eight was here.

Lovely.

The ABB was led by a literal monster. The Merchants had a reputation for ruining people's lives and just generally being scum. But the Empire?

God, they made life in Brockton Bay stink.

If I hadn't already hated Nazis before, the Empire definitely would have made me. They beat up or (allegedly) killed anyone in their territory who wasn't white and straight, and generally just gave people another reason to turn around and look behind them every few seconds whenever they were out.

From what that person had said, the ABB was here too (unless it happened to be group of Merchants composed completely of Chinese people). The only thing I could do was hope that none of the capes on either side were here. Oni Lee could teleport and leave a copy of himself behind, which would act on its own for a while before disintegrating. Lung, the ABB's notorious leader, got stronger the longer he was in battle, and quite literally transformed into a dragon.

The Empire had more capes than the both the Protectorate and the Wards combined. Kaiser, Purity (although she'd disappeared for quite a while now), Krieg, Hookwolf, Fenja, Menja, Victor, Othala, Alabaster, Stormtiger, Cricket, Rune…it was a damn long list. If even one of them was here right now…

God, I hoped none of them showed up. I ran from my position on the footpath to the best cover I could find – a truck which, according to the writing on the side, was transporting fruit.

_Wait, seriously?_

I'd never seen a logo like the one on the truck before. It looked like someone had drawn a circle, coloured it orange, encased it in yellow and then said 'Yep, we're done here.' There was no way anyone would actually use that as a logo.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of gunfire, several bullets whizzing past me and one hitting one of the truck's headlights. From inside the truck came a muffled scream. I froze.

Well, that explained the weird looking logo. This truck wasn't transporting _fruit_. It was transporting girls. Probably white, and kidnapped by the ABB for their numerous brothels – which would explain their current conflict with the Empire, Brockton Bay's resident Nazis.

**New Quest: GTFO**

**Grab the girls**

**GTFO**

**Success: + 250 XP, + 3 CHA**

**Failure: You're screwed, LOL**

Crap, now it was a quest. For XP. Now I really wanted to do it.

I also wanted to run so badly. It would be much easier than opening up a truck and freeing a bunch of girls trapped inside. But how the hell would I do that without being shot?

"Eat this, fuckers!" I jerked back as I watched an Empire thug peek out from behind a car, only to be promptly shot in the face. His body dropped to the ground, gun firing in his hand. The bullet flew towards a group of ABB members, hitting one in the knee. The moment everyone jerked towards the guy who'd been hit, who was now cursing loudly and rolling on the floor, I ran to the back of the truck and tried my best to lift up the heavy latch.

To my surprise, it actually worked – my doubled STR must have contributed to that. It still baffled me, really, how much of a difference I could feel from my power's effects. And yet, everything still felt completely natural.

As the doors swung open, I was treated to the sight of the barrel of a gun pointed at my head.

"Don't fucking m–"

I jerked backwards, arms flailing as I desperately tried to get out of the way. The gun fired, and I felt a hot sting of pain as the bullet passed through my right leg.

**-5 HP.**

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Ballistic Damage Resistance'!**

I screamed. Loudly. ABB and Empire members alike all turned to look at me. A guy crouched behind a car with a phone to his ear saluted me, his expression solemn.

_Nice not knowing you, kid, _it seemed to say.

Yeah, I was screwed. Before long, I was throwing myself to the floor as bullets soared over my body, carving an arc of destruction through a clustered group of cars, which exploded in rapid succession.

The ABB member in the truck turned his gun towards me again – I rolled on the ground as he fired again and again, a steady trail of bullet holes marking the path I'd taken to avoid certain death. It was deafening, the repetitive blasts of metal, heat and sound. I scrambled to hide behind the bare skeleton of one of the detonated cars – fat load of good that did me. It was still hot as hell, and I made the no-brainer mistake of leaning against it, of all things.

**-2 HP.**

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Heat Damage Resistance'! **

"Argh!" I clamped my hand over my mouth as the ABB and Empire went back to shooting each other. I really didn't want them to focus their attention on me like that again.

"Come out, you bastard!" Another shot rang out, piercing the metal and barely missing me. Just a little more to the left and I would have been screwed.

God, this was an awful situation. I risked poking my head up to look at the truck. The guy was still there, standing with his gun pointed at the car. Behind him I could see five girls; three brunettes, one blonde, one redhead…wait a second, was that _Emma_?

Shit. It actually was. The submissive expression on her face was actually pretty amusing to me – hell, I might not have been a sick person, but she'd tormented me and dumped me for a girl she'd only just met.

All of them had their hands tied behind their backs and attached to their waist by another length of rope, which not only secured their wrists, but also ran between their legs. Maybe so that it would be painful for them to walk? I wasn't entirely sure. All of them were gagged with strips of duct tape, muffled cried coming from them as they struggled. The man with the gun aimed at my head, and I ducked. A bullet barely missed me.

Dammit. This time, I peered out to the side. Emma had managed to stand up, supporting herself against the rusted wall of the truck. Her eyes met mine, wide and desperate. I might have hated her for the past year and a half, but before that we'd been best friends for years. And I knew that look pretty damn well.

_She wants my help. _

Well, as long as we all got out of this darned mess alive, I was game. No matter how much I wanted to kick her ass. That image then proceeded to burn itself in my mind for the rest of eternity.

Go figure.

_Your move, Emma_.

I gave her the most subtle of nods.

_Yes, I will help you, no, it's not for you, it's for those girls also in the truck with you, asshole._

Also, letting anyone get kidnapped by the ABB when you could free them was just as bad as turning someone over to them – in my opinion, at least.

Emma acknowledged me, and without a moment of hesitation, ran towards the man – god that looked painful with the rope between her legs – and head-butted him right out of the truck. My shock only lasted for a second. As soon as he hit the ground, I was racing out from behind the car. I pulled the gun out of his hands and aimed it at him. I wasn't even trembling.

"Can the rest of you get out of the truck?" I asked the remaining girls, briefly taking my eyes off the man. They nodded. "Alright, get off a fast as you–" My eyes widened as I looked back at the man.

He must have had another gun on him, because there he was, holding one. I quickly twisted to the side, barely managing to dodge in time before a bullet shot through where I'd just been standing.

_Fuck._

**You have unlocked the Active Ability 'Dodge'!**

I didn't even bother to read the message. I just pulled the trigger, shot him in the knee. Blood spurted out, the bullet clattering out onto the road. A trail of crimson began to snake its way down his leg, creeping slowly and silently. The man screamed. But he still had the gun. So I shot him in the other knee to. That time, amidst the curses and screams of pain, he dropped his weapon.

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Gun Mastery'!**

I quickly took the other gun from him and kicked it away.

"You guys good?"

"Mmph."

"Alright, come on, we gotta go."

As soon as all the girls were out, we bolted. I was still holding both of the guns the man had tried to shoot me with – better safe than sorry. Every now and then, my eyes would go to Emma. I was trying to figure it out – why she'd done what she did to me. It would have been more difficult before. But now I had my powers.

_Observe._

**Emma Barnes**

**HP: 77/100**

**Stamina: 60/100**

**Status Conditions: **

**Bound**

**Mentally Unstable**

The last one was what confused me. Mentally Unstable? Emma? When we'd been younger, when we'd been _friends_…she'd never shown any sign of mental instability. So something must have happened…when I'd went on summer camp.

Crap. I should have known. I should have realised…

_And what would you have done? She was the one to turn you away._

_Yes, she was._

_And she was also my friend. _

I blinked. An ABB thug was walking towards us, rifle raised. I didn't hesitate to send a bullet flying towards his body. It hit him in the arm, causing him to drop the rifle and stumble away. Another bullet disabled his right leg. I ignored his screams of pain.

Emma was the only one who noticed what was happening to the thug. The rest of the girls just kept on running. She paused briefly, looking at him before turning back to me. Just for a second.

_She's scared of me_.

It was almost satisfying, seeing that look on her face. It would have been immensely so, it I hadn't been trying to figure out how on earth I'd actually managed to hit the guy. There was no way Gun Mastery just gave me impeccable aim.

**Gun Mastery (Passive) LV. 1 50%**

**\+ 30% Accuracy**

**\+ 1% Ballistic Damage**

Oh. That would explain it. That was a whole load of Accuracy – it's probably grow slower than the Ballistic Damage though.

That was, if I kept using guns.

We kept running. The gunshots refused to die.

**Running is LV. 2!**

**Sprint is LV. 2!**

**\+ 1 VIT**

We tried to put some distance between ourselves and the firefight – we drew some strange stares, but hell, everyone was running. They could draw whatever conclusions they wanted.

Five minutes later, when no more gunshots could be heard, we stopped.

**Quest Complete: GTFO**

**Grab the girls**

**GTFO**

**Success: + 250 XP, + 3 CHA**

**Failure: You're screwed, LOL**

"Oh, thank god," I muttered as I skidded to a halt, panting loudly. My Stamina had shrunk down considerably fast. Emma and the other girls were also panting. I ripped the duct tape off one of their mouths, allowing her to gasp for air before moving onto the next. When I'd ungagged the others, I hesitated to do the same for Emma. I hadn't stopped hating her. Not at all. But she'd given us a window to escape. Well, I guess I had as well. And I'd opened the truck in the first place. And I'd gotten them out. And I'd shot those two ABB thugs. But hell, Emma had done her part. I ripped the tape off her face.

"Taylor, oh god." I turned away from her. I _really_ didn't want to talk to her. I walked over to the first girl I'd ungagged, and began to untie her. She mumbled a few words of gratitude to me as I continued to untie the knots. "Please, listen to me."

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Escapology'!**

I frowned. I wasn't the one escaping – I was just freeing someone.

My powers made no sense, but that was part of the charm, I supposed.

"I know I haven't exactly been a good friend–" I snorted as I finished untying the girl. Hah, as if. "–but I want you to know that I'm grateful, I really am. And–"

"Emma?"

"…yeah?"

"Please shut up."

"Okay."

If only she'd always been like that for the past year and a half.

As soon as the other girls were free, I turned towards Emma. I really didn't want to untie her.

"You guys can go now." They looked surprised – their eyes kept on flickering between the two of us, before one of them spoke up.

"Are you two exes or something?" I frowned.

"What?" Emma and I both said at the same time. I sputtered for a moment or two, before shaking my head.

"Oh god, no. Hell no." I sent a glare at Emma, before looking back at the girl who'd spoken up. "Look, just go to the police station. Tell them what happened…but, uh, don't tell them about me, yeah? Please? Just say that she head-butted the guy when he opened the door, and–"

"Actually," Emma said, cutting in, "I'd rather you leave me out too. Please?" The girls' confused expressions returned. Hell, _I _was confused. I was surprised that Emma wasn't making such a big deal out of this.

"Yeah, sure." It was the blonde girl this time, looking at us wearily as she rubbed at the rope burns on her wrists. "We can keep it zipped, right?"

"Sure."

"Yeah, why not?"

I nodded to them, allowing the corner of my mouth to perk up slightly. I wondered how I must have looked to them, covered in blood and vomit. How I must have looked to Emma.

"Thanks. Uh, I appreciate it." One of the girls laughed at me.

"Hey, you got us out of there. It ain't no trouble." She winked, patted one of the others on the back, and then the two left. The blonde girl, kept staring at us for a moment, but eventually just left. The other one must have slipped away while we weren't paying attention.

Right.

Now I had to deal with Emma.

"I should have left you in the truck," I muttered. "You deserved it."

"Yeah. I did. Still do."

"But you gave us that opening."

"You shot him."

"…"

"…"

God, it was hard to hold a conversation with someone I knew I should hate. But in that moment, I just didn't. I couldn't bring myself to.

"To be honest, I'm kind of glad you stuffed me in the locker."

"That wasn't me."

"No way it wasn't you."

"Sophia pushed you in. I helped arrange everything though. Collected the tampons with Madison and all that."

"You're confessing it?" I was less surprised than I thought. Emma's behaviour tonight was so different from her usual bitchiness that I definitely wasn't going to complain about it, though.

"…yeah, I guess so."

"…"

"…hey. Why were you glad?"

"Huh?"

"Earlier you said you were glad you were in the locker."

"Oh. That." I eyed her curiously – Emma looked so worn down. I couldn't hate her. Not like this. But that didn't mean I liked her. "If you hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been out, running home at this time. And all the other girls in there would have stayed with the ABB. You, though? I don't how to feel about letting you out. Helping you."

Emma was silent. Her eyes refused to meet mine, constantly darting in different directions as around us, life went on for the rest of Brockton Bay. Firefights happened every week, they weren't rare occurrences here. No one was a stranger to violence in this city. Not even the kids.

"Listen, I'm going to talk to Sophia. And Madison. And…everyone. Tell 'em all to stop what we were doing to you. You're…you're not prey. Sophia was wrong about that." I perked up at that. That…that word.

"Prey?"

"I…we were meant to be predators. You…you were the prey, Sophia said…she said…god, she was wrong, she was so wrong. I was so wrong. God, I…"

"Emma, what happened when I was away on summer camp?" And just like that, she froze. Bingo. Right on the money.

"Can I tell you later?"

"Later? What makes you think I'll want to even _talk _to you later?" Emma flinched, eyes finally meeting mine.

"I…I…you…" She shuddered, eyes going back to randomly darting around. "Can you untie me please?"

"I might consider it if you tell me what the hell happened."

"That would take time."

"Well we've got plenty, haven't we?" Emma hesitated. She _really _didn't want to talk about it right now, did she?

"I…I can't tell you now. Not yet. Not here. Can we meet at school, at lunchtime tomorrow? Just the two of us, on the roof?" It was then, as I stared at her, that I remembered what I'd seen on her list of Status Conditions. Mentally Unstable.

God, I really didn't want to think about this right now. I just couldn't accept it. But my powers hadn't lied to me yet. They hadn't _failed _me yet. They'd only ever partially misled me, and hell, that'd been partially my fault. And if they hadn't…well, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now, would we? I'd never have known about Emma's Condition if not for my powers, which she had been involved in giving me.

God, this was just one big goddamned circle.

"Fine. I'll untie you now."

I wasn't happy about this. I really wasn't – I wanted answers, and I wanted them now. But the way Emma was shaking…god, was I feeling _sympathy _for her? I was, wasn't it?

**Escapology is LV. 2!**

Emma didn't do anything for a while as the ropes fell to the ground. Then she hugged me.

_Huh._

It was an awkward hug – I was still covered in blood, and her body was cramped as hell. But she went through with it anyway.

"Thank you so much." After that, she ran. Didn't say anything else. I followed her example, taking off to my house.

I had quite a lot to think about.

**New Quest: Truth Seeker**

**Figure out why the hell your best friend dumped you for a random piece of shit**

**Success: + 1400 XP, a huge revelation**

**Failure: None**

And here my powers seemed to agree. This was important.

When I got home, the lights in the living room were on. Dad must have been waiting for me.

_Well, here we go._

As soon as I opened the door, a new message appeared.

**Quest Complete: Return**

**Get home safely.**

**Success: + 500 XP, that Proper Rest you want so badly**

**Failure: How the hell are you going to fail this? **

Dad was sitting on the couch, watching the door with a solemn expression. He opened his mouth to say something – probably to ask me where the hell I'd been – and then he froze. His eyes swept over me, head to toe, his look of disdain becoming one of confusion, then worry, then complete concern.

"Taylor? Why are you covered in blood?"

_Uh…_

"Um…I can explain?"

_Crap. I did not think this through._


	3. Shutdown 1-3

**Gonna take a quick break from this for exams and so I can work on my other stories on FFN.**

**This chapter kind of sucks, but it's necessary. **

**Thanks for the support so far, guys. **

**Shutdown 1.3**

I had not been prepared for this. I had no clue what to tell Dad – seriously, what was I supposed to say? Did I lie? Tell him the truth? Be evasive?

"You better be able to explain," he muttered quietly, his eyes drifting downwards. And then they bulged out of his head. "Is that a bullet hole?!" I looked down to look at my leg where I'd been shot – there was a hole in my jeans, but the skin had completely healed up.

_Thank god for my powers._

"I got caught in the shootout earlier." I should have known that he wouldn't be satisfied with that – he started freaking out the moment I said the 'shoot' in 'shootout'.

"Shootout? You mean the guns from earlier? Why the hell were you even there, Taylor? Oh god, what on earth–"

"That's a long story," I admitted. "Do you want me to–"

"Goddammit, just tell me what happened." He was clearly freaking out. So I did. Told him everything – well, except for my powers. I wasn't quite ready for that. Not yet. Not when he might freak out even more.

I also left out how Emma had led an extended bullying campaign against me for the course of the last year and a half. I might have hated her, but then she'd given me hope. A hope that, perhaps, she wasn't too far gone.

Besides, there was no way I could completely hate a girl who had the Condition Mentally Unstable. That would be ridiculous.

Instead, I spun the story to make it sound like Emma and I were still friends, just distant. Because hell, no one would question that except for an asshole. And my dad wasn't an asshole – most of the time, anyway.

When I got to the part where the other girls left, a new message appeared.

**You have unlocked the Passive Skill 'Persuasion'!**

I must have paused for a moment or two, because Dad started waving a hand in front of my face.

"Taylor? You there?" I blinked and closed the textbox.

"What? Yeah, sorry, I spaced out for a second." I tried to ignore the feeling of horror beginning to fester inside me. Persuasion sounded an awful lot like 'Suggestion'. Sounded pretty close to a Master power. Which wasn't something I wanted. Not at all.

"So, the girls left? Emma's gone home?"

"Yeah. She should be home by now." I wondered what Emma would tell her parents regarding what had happened tonight. Would she be doing the same as me? Saying everything but the details she didn't want them to know about? Pretending we'd stayed friends?

_Friends._

_Friends stick together._

I still remembered that day. I'd complimented her on her hair. It'd been cut. Different. I'd told her I'd liked it. Loved it, even.

_And then she shut me down._

Had it been immediate? Those words, had they been the final straw? What had happened to her hair? Why had it been so important?

_Sophia._

She must have had something to do with it. She _had _to. Why else would Emma have turned?

_Because you're boring._

Wasn't that what she'd called me? Boring? Why had she said that?

_What happened to you, Emma?_

"Taylor?"

_Oh god. I did it again._

My eyes, which had been slowly drifting to the door, quickly snapped back to Dad. I seriously needed to stop allowing the rove wherever they wanted.

"Yeah?" I asked, trying my best to act clueless.

_God, if only life were that easy._

"You drifted off again."

"Huh." I tried my best to look like I was dazed. Dad's expression become more and more concerned. "I…I'm a little tired. I might…I'm going to take a shower." God, I felt like a complete asshole. It felt like I was manipulating him. Which was sort of what I was doing, right?

_Right?_

"…go," he said, trying his best to make himself sound dismissive. It didn't work.

_Do I sound that fake too, when I pretend?_

"…okay." I couldn't stand to be here anymore. As soon as I was out of his sight, I ran. I leapt up the stairs as fast as I could, ran into the bathroom, flicked the light on and shut the door. I had something to check.

**Persuasion (Passive) LV. 1 78%**

**Allows you to sway people more easily to your point of view**

**Not brainwashing**

…not brainwashing.

_Thank god._

I stood there for a few moments, just staring at those last two words.

_Not a Master ability._

I leaned against the wall, slowly sinking to my knees.

_Not a Master ability._

I knew what people thought about Masters. They were freaky, terrifying, in the public eye. Heartbreaker kept a personal harem of women with him wherever he went. Any human life in Ellisburg was now gone, changed, twisted, because of Nilbog. The rest only solidified the fact that Masters were scarily effective. I wouldn't have been wanted to be painted as one.

_And there it was._

As I undressed, wrinkling my nose in disgust as I saw the full extent of the damage to my clothes, I reminded myself that yes, I had powers now. And that wasn't going to change.

I'd wanted to be a hero, when I was younger. I'd dreamed of becoming the next Alexandria – powerful, indestructible, and capable of effortlessly soaring through the clouds and beyond. It had always lingered, that desire – it had stayed there, remained alive, a burning hope which, though diminished, had subconsciously carried me through the horrible torment of the past year and a half. Now, that dream, that vision I'd had…there was a chance it'd come true.

I stepped into the shower, letting the water run and feeling it fall across my back, running through my hair and down my skin. The warmth was welcoming, as I closed my eyes contentedly. I ignored the trails of crimson flowing down my body and splattering against the floor as well as I could.

If I wanted to be a hero, I'd need a name. A _good _name, one that wouldn't draw laughter and mockery from every man, woman and child in this city, but a name that would demand respect.

But that was assuming being a hero would even work for me, anyway. The more I thought about it, the more I thought to myself, _yep, screw authority_. When had it ever helped me? Blackwell hadn't. Gladly had stood by and ignored the trio's actions for too long. My application forms had been shredded, and the person who'd done it hadn't looked guilty in the slightest.

Joining the Wards felt like a so-so option. You got a team, sure, but that came with a load of teenage drama I really didn't need. I'd had enough already. Besides, the chances of them actually _caring _about me was scarce. And then I'd probably need to tell Dad about my powers – and I couldn't do that. Not right now.

I thought about Emma. The Emma I'd once known, the Emma who'd turned her back on me, and the Emma who I'd talked to less than ten minutes ago. Pathetic, scared, weak. Predator and prey, she'd said. _Sophia _had said. Some sort of philosophy – the predator, the prey, the strong, the weak. She'd been turned by that, somehow – whatever had happened while I was away, it had to be tied to that.

I had an explanation to look forward to, when the time came. Tomorrow, lunch time. Rooftop.

Just us.

How was I supposed to handle this? How did _normal _people handle these things? Anger? Sadness? Something else?

Your best friend betrays you, drops you, how do you deal?

I'd retracted. Curled up, isolated myself. Withdrawn. I could see that now – everything was so much clearer. Everything felt so much…easier.

**Username: Taylor**

**Occupation: Student**

**LV. 2 (Next LV. 800/1500 XP)**

**HP: 87/110 (REG 4.25 HP/min) **

**Stamina: 110/110 (REG 35 Stamina/min)**

**MP: 30/30 (REG 2 MP/min)**

**Title: None**

**STR: 4**

**VIT: 6+5 = 11**

**INT: 8**

**WIS: 4**

**DEX: 2**

**CHA: 4**

**LUK: 0**

I was steadily growing, getting stronger. I'd had my powers for less than a day, but I could already see the difference. If it kept going this way, eventually I'd truly become Triumvirate tier. And hell, who wouldn't love that?

Then again, would my powers even allow me to fly? There was still the MP stat, which so far had done nothing. I had no idea how I was supposed to use it. How did one use…well, Mana? Was it as natural as moving a single finger or breathing? Or was it complex, taking excruciating effort? Or, like every aspect of my power so far, would it slowly get easier? That last one seemed the most likely.

And besides, being a hero…I could help people. _Really _help people. Save lives, put down criminals, help clean up the city. Make things better.

The PRT, the Protectorate, the Wards...what were they doing to help? All they cared about was public opinion, making sure they were seen in a good light. But what the hell did they do to contribute? A couple arrests a week, sure, but to what end? When was the last time a major villain had been taken down? The last time they'd really made a difference? The last time they'd shown up on time to even do anything?

The Protectorate wasn't doing crap. They were like Blackwell, people who acted helpful, but offered only empty promises. Hell, Blackwell had treated me like trash and acted as if anything coming out of the trio's mouth was word of god.

_Wait._

That wasn't just a random thing, was it? It wasn't that she couldn't be bothered to put her in her place, it didn't even have anything to do with lack of evidence. No, she _knew_ what Sophia was doing. I felt my nails digging into my skin. I froze for a moment, then let them keep pusher deeper.

**-1 HP.**

I knew that in less than 15 seconds, that 1 HP would come back. I hardly cared about what I'd just done. REG would always kick in unless I was bleeding, wouldn't it?

But…fucking _Blackwell. _Why the hell would she let Sophia of all people, do this?

**Branched Quest: Revelations**

**Figure out why Sophia got away with everything, and why Blackwell didn't care**

**Success: + 1000 XP, blackmail material**

**Failure: None**

Well, it seemed that my powers agreed with me. I was going to figure out why the hell the biggest bitch I'd ever met had gotten away with ruining my life, stolen my best friend. But what did 'Branched Quest' mean?

**A Branched Quest is a Quest branching off from another, giving additional goals and extra XP for Success. **

Huh. So that was what it meant…I supposed that made sense.

Turning the water off I proceeded to dry myself, grab my pyjamas, and jump into bed after throwing my ruined clothes in the hamper. Not that I'd be bothering to wash them.

…Unless my power made that easier. Who knew? It was already doing crazy things, something mundane wouldn't be too surprising.

I closed my eyes, allowing the darkness to overtake me.

And then it appeared.

**You Have Slept For: 3 Hours**

**HP Fully Restored**

**Stamina Fully Restored**

**MP Fully Restored**

**All Status Conditions Removed**

Holy shit.

My vision was clear. Completely _clear._

And I felt…so much better. As I sat up in bed, I felt more…enthusiastic. Or at less inclined to go back to sleep.

_Is…is this…_

Yup, bullshit powers being bullshit. But hell, I loved them for it.

It was still night time – barely even 2 in the morning. If a full rest was only 3 hours…did I even require sleep? Was it only for healing? Because if so, then I could use the time I usually spent sleeping for so many other things.

Levelling up, for one.

**New Quest: In We Go**

**Make sure you actually know what the hell is going in in this city of yours**

**AKA Research**

**Success: + 150 XP**

**Failure: Seriously? You're that lazy?**

I could do that easily. Boot up my ancient computer, surf the web. PHO was a never ending resource of cape stuff. And also general bullshit. But that was to be expected on a forum. Especially one as busy as PHO.

A few moments later I had put on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, because I was _not _going to be moving around in my pyjamas. Browsing on my computer provided no more information than what I already knew; the ABB was led by Lung; the Empire by Kaiser, son of Allfather; and the Merchants by Skidmark – they were all scum, in the end. Scum with varying levels of intelligence, sure, but still scum nonetheless.

I did, however, get a few things out of it.

**Quest Complete: In We Go**

**Make sure you actually know what the hell is going in in this city of yours**

**AKA Research**

**Success: + 150 XP**

**Failure: Seriously? You're that lazy?**

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Typing'!**

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Speedreading'!**

**\+ 1 WIS**

I wasn't surprised at all. Honestly, this just kept getting more and more ridiculous.

I started training after that. At first it was just punching at the air, trying to level up Basic Unarmed Combat.

**Basic Unarmed Combat is LV. 2!**

**\+ 1 VIT**

**\+ 1 STR**

It took a while to level up, but the moment it did, I felt the difference, the increase in knowledge. I started incorporating my legs, sweeping outwards, striking hard at an invisible enemy.

The first big surprise came when my Stamina dropped to 0.

**-1 HP.**

**Damage Resistance is LV. 4!**

…fuck.

When my Stamina hit 0, my actions cost HP instead. I was pretty sure that wasn't too good. Push too hard and…yeah. I was as good as dead.

**\+ 1 INT**

How the hell was that…?

_Never mind._

I waited a few minutes, relaxed myself as I sat down on my bed. I was sweating, feeling legitimately tired. Despite how well I'd known the experience from the past, it felt like a new sensation. Maybe because this time, it'd been a legitimate workout – to be completely honest, I had no clue. The logic behind my powers was still…uncertain.

As soon as I could, I started again – it was three now. Three in the morning. I'd been doing this for two hours–

_Oh shit._

I'd just punched the wall of my room. At 3 AM. With Dad asleep only a metre or so down the hall.

"Taylor?"

_Ohgodohgodohgod._

"Taylor, what's going on?"

_Good question Dad, good question._

There was no way I could play it off as just waking up. I was fully dressed – that alone was suspicious. What the hell should I do? What should I–

_Oh._

_OH._

The answer hit me like a speeding truck. I didn't like it. Hell, I hated it. But I really didn't want to start telling my dad about my powers. Not…not yet. I couldn't. Just…just couldn't.

So I sat down on my bed, stared at the indentation my fist had made in the plaster, and silently prayed that this would work. Dad opened the door a few moments later, to the sight of me sitting perfectly still, staring blankly at the wall in front of me. I pretended not to notice him.

"Taylor? What are you doing? It's three in the...Taylor?"

"Huh?" I turned my head slowly, tilting it slightly to the right as I locked eyes with Dad. I grinned at him. "Hey Dad. Sorry, you were saying?"

It hurt to do this to him. It really did – if not for my powers keeping me perfectly calm, I'd probably have been trembling at this point. But I didn't. Maintained that happy, carefree expression I'd painted on my face. Fooled him. Played on his emotions.

"What…what are you doing up?"

"What do you mean?" I pretended to be confused; narrowed my eyes, tilted my head a little more.

"It's…it's three in the morning, you should be…asleep…"

"…asleep? Three…" I made a show of looking out my window, before shaking my head, then looking at it again. "So…so what?"

"What do you mean?" He looked scared. Concerned. Worried about…

_About me._

I hated myself. I wanted to cry, scream. Beg for forgiveness. But my powers didn't allow me to do so. Nope. Not genuinely, at least. Everything was an act.

"I should be getting up now, right? I mean, it's morning already."

"Taylor, you should be sleeping, dammit."

"But…what about school? Won't I be late?"

"Taylor, school doesn't start for at least five hours."

"Oh."

"…"

"…"

This was carrying on for too long. I needed to end this. Now.

"So…I should sleep again?"

"…yes. Yes, you should."

"Eh. If you say so."

"Don't get up too early again."

"Kay."

Dad left after that. Acted like everything was fine.

But nothing was fine. He thought I was crazy now – true, I'd brought it upon myself. But I wanted to keep my powers to myself for now. Was that so wrong?

Considering the lengths I'd gone to? Perhaps it was.

I didn't do anything else that night. I only lay in bed, contemplating everything that had changed. I was going to be a hero. Perhaps not a Ward, but definitely not a villain. I couldn't even imagine myself being a villain. It was so…surreal. Everything about this. It wasn't like typical cape powers. My power had presented me with an interface. Changed my perception of the world around me and made everything seem like a game.

But life wasn't a game. Everything which had happened today had proved that.

Sure, I'd left Winslow alive, escaped from my locker with only 1 HP. But then everything else had happened. The ABB. The Empire. The girls. Emma. And now Dad.

_Goddammit. Gotta clear my head. May as well sleep again. _

So I did. Another two hours of nothingness, and then it was 5 AM. I only got out of bed once I heard Dad turn on the TV. Ten minutes later, I left the room.

He was just sitting there. I couldn't see his face, but his posture was telling. Shoulders slumped, back curved, fingers flexing and clenching every few seconds before relaxing. He was still worried. And that was because of me.

I walked over to the stove to cook breakfast, my hand hovering over the dial.

"Taylor?" I spun it.

"Hmm?" A small flame flickered to life, shuddering as it grew larger and larger.

"Is everything alright?" For a while, I didn't answer. I didn't notice my hand moving until I felt the pain.

**-1 HP.**

"Taylor?" I hummed in response, barely recognising the fact that I was smiling.

**-1 HP.**

"I'm fine, dad. Everything's alright."


	4. Shutdown 1-4

**I dunno if this chapter is good, but…well, it's a chapter.**

**If you guys have good, realistic names for Skill Books, please suggest them, as well as what they do.**

**I should also probably mention that references to other games in the form of enemies, items and skills will be abundant. If you have suggestions, I'll consider them, and might even add them if they don't interfere with the plotline.**

**That's all. Enjoy the chapter.**

**Shutdown 1.4**

I wasn't sure if I'd pushed it too hard. Dad had…not exactly been himself this morning. Then again, whatever qualified as 'Dad' was not something I was able to instantly define. That kind of relationship between us had deteriorated to the point that I had no idea how he was _supposed _to behave. I lied to him. Said that I was fine. He didn't believe that. But hell, who would have? I'd pretended to not be in my right mind last night. Hell, he was so upset about it that he didn't even notice I wasn't wearing glasses.

I didn't take the bus to school. Those rides had never gone well for me, anyway. Sitting by myself, under the scrutinizing eye of every single passenger? I was done with that crap. Instead, I decided to run. The whole way. Not sprinting; I did _not _want to be outed as a cape. I was still getting a grasp on my abilities, and I definitely didn't need everyone to start giving me looks wherever I went.

Although, they already did that anyway, didn't they? Thanks a lot for that, Emma.

**Running is LV. 3!**

**\+ 1 VIT**

I made it to school before the bus; at first, I assumed that I was just running faster than it, but that thought was quickly dismissed. Most likely I'd just left earlier than usual, so the bus hadn't arrived yet.

_Not everything that happens is because of your powers, Taylor. And you'll do well to remember that._

When I made it to my locker, I realized that no one had bothered to clean it up. Was I surprised by this? No. Not at all.

Emma was standing on the other side of the hallway, staring pensively at the open locker, the door resting on the floor a few feet away. A thick smear of blood and a black-green ooze trailed from the door to the mess pouring out of the locker. I was vaguely able to recognize my school books among it all. And lying next to the locker, one of its lenses shattered, were my glasses. I gazed at them for a moment, before suddenly realizing that Emma had moved beside me, her shoulders drawn in and her head tilted towards the floor. Her eyes were about as red as they could be without matching her hair color. Her hair itself was a complete mess – she hadn't brushed it this morning, of that much I was sure.

"…um…err, Taylor." Even when she was talking to me, she refused to look at me. For some reason, I received no feeling of satisfaction from that. Seeing Emma being meek, vulnerable, after the past year and a half…it was unsettling to watch. It didn't feel _right_, didn't feel real. Like I would wake up in a few moments in a hospital bed, only to find out that I'd never gotten powers from the locker, or that Emma was still acting like a horrible bitch. But I didn't want to believe that. I couldn't. "About the, uh…"

"It looks worse now than it did last night," I observed, cutting her off. Just hearing her voice still pissed me off. Although she now spoke in a more subdued tone, I could still hear it loud and clear in the condescending tone she'd always used to mock me. Emma flinched, wringing her hands as she looked at the unrecognizable pile of sludge. "I guess it's the light. Makes it easier to see it all, you know? Take it all in. Last night it was so dark I was basically walking blind whenever there wasn't a headlight shining through the windows." Emma seemed to get the hint because her reply came in the form of action, not words. She gave a small nod, barely noticeable if you weren't looking for a response. "How long did it take you? To, you know, get everything?" I was asking a question which required an answer in the form of words, I realized afterward. But I…I just wanted to know. How extensively this…this prank had been planned. It took a while for the answer. As she did, her head dipped down lower, and she spoke in a voice which was barely more than a whisper.

"Maybe…maybe just a little over two weeks? I…I'm not entirely sure. Madison was…Madison was the one who gathered most of it. I…I went around and asked, of course, and I collected _some_, but, well…I was more involved in the planning."

"How'd you get all the stuff inside? The tampons and everything?" Emma froze. Her expression was one of pure shock, eyes bulging and mouth gaping. She was looking at me now. It took me a moment to realize what she was wordlessly doing. She was pleading. Asking me not to continue along that line of thought.

"We…" She didn't continue. Just flicked her head back to the locker, her legs shaking, her knees knocking together. She looked like she would fall forward at any moment. Crumple to the ground, unmoving. Deadly still. I went over that image in my head, over and over, until I began to feel uncomfortable.

"Can you get someone to clean this up?" I didn't know why I was asking if she would. I should have been demanding. But as I stared at the locker, despite the ever-increasing feeling of anger, none of it was directed towards Emma. She was just…just so _pathetic_. There was nothing to gain, no satisfaction, from being angry with her. Nothing.

Emma nodded, heading off without saying a word. She even looked desperate to get away from me, the locker, and the crowd. Because there was a crowd, alright. Not a static one, all silent and watching, but one which was always changing, always shifting, people coming and going to stop, stare for a moment, then leave a few seconds later. An endless sea of changing faces, some showing expressions of disgust, sympathy, concern, indifference. But I felt none of the vulnerability which had been present only yesterday. No, this…this all felt different. Somehow, _Winslow _felt different. Granted, Emma was acting unusually submissive – understandable, considering what had happened last night – but everyone else seemed to be acting differently too. Or maybe it was just the way _I_ was looking at _them_…

"Hebert!"

…but then again, some things would always stay the same.

Like Sophia Hess. A real ray of sunshine right there.

_Observe._

**Sophia Hess**

**HP: 170/200**

**Stamina: 99/100**

**Status Conditions:**

**Bleeding**

**Aggressive**

…Bleeding?

"What is it, Sophia?" I only realized that I'd been the one to say the words a few seconds after I heard them. I had to try ridiculously hard not to tightly clamp my hand over my mouth.

_Holy crap. That just happened._

"What the hell did you do to Emma?"

"I'm sorry?" Sophia looked furious. I faintly noticed her nose twitching. Behind her, Madison was wearing a similar expression, though on her it just made her look ridiculous. "_I _did nothing to Emma. I'm pretty sure that you're the one who should be asked that question?"

"The fuck are you talking about?"

"Predator and prey. Those words sound familiar?"

It was as if time itself had stopped. Sophia froze, but not before her face contorted into an expression of shock and anger. Her jaw was clenched, fingernails digging into the palms of her hands.

"You…" She stepped forward, her expression morphing back into her usual sneer. "You should know your place, Hebert. _You're _prey." Her eyes narrowed. "And you dragged Emma down with you. You're both so…so pathetic. You _made _her pathetic."

"And you made her something else before that," I shot back angrily. I guess she hadn't been expecting me to talk back; her shocked expression returned, even if only for a second. "Whatever she is now, predator or prey – it's because of _you_. So don't blame me." Sophia looked confused at first. Almost…lost. Aimless. But then she grinned.

"I…yeah. I did this. I proved that I'm stronger than you!" she said gleefully. "I'm stronger than both of you! Although, I already knew that…" Madison looked even more confused than I was. I noticed her slowly edging away from Sophia, as if she'd just been infected by a terrible disease.

_She already has been. A disease called Aggressiveness._

"…what the fuck is wrong with you?" I asked, only for Sophia to suddenly grab me by the throat and shove me against the mess of my locker.

**-2 HP.**

_Oh. Guess it's my lucky day, huh?_

"Fucking take that back," she growled. "Take it back, sheep!" My eyes widened. Just how far was she taking this predator-prey metaphor? Her twisted philosophy? This kill-or-be-killed?

And why the hell was her HP so high?

Everyone else I'd observed hadn't had more HP than 100. But Sophia had double that.

Even though I didn't realise it then, the pieces had started to fit together in my mind. I knew that Sophia was fit, but…there was something else going on here. And it was tied to everything. Emma, Winslow, the locker…she was hiding something, alright.

"Oh, fuck off. I don't have time for this shit."

**-3 HP.**

She was crushing my throat harder now. But it barely hurt. I was dimly aware of the fact that I was smiling.

**-4 HP.**

"C'mon, Sophia. You can do better than that." Her eyes widened as she released me, stumbling back a step.

"You're a freak, Hebert. You're a goddamned freak."

"Fine, call me a freak. What the fuck are you, Sophia? A predator? A dumb animal?"

"...what the fuck happened to you? What the fuck happened to you, Hebert?" I didn't answer for a while – I was trying to think of a response. But then it came to me.

"_You _happened to me. You, Sophia. You, Emma, Madison. You beat me. Made my life hell. But I…I got stronger because of it." My smirk grew. "You called me prey; I'm not sure why. But hell, if I'm pathetic...so are you."

**-6 HP.**

"Yeah," I muttered right before my head hit the ground.

**-1 HP.**

"Keep punching me. Does it make you feel any better, huh?" As it turned out, it definitely didn't. Because as soon as I said that, Sophia backed off. Madison wore a conflicted expression, but she followed her away. She was the _real _sheep, the follower, the one along for the ride. Not me. No, I wouldn't allow myself to follow someone blindly like that. I would be the shepherd.

"Taylor?" Emma was standing there, the janitor in tow. The man moved towards the locker while she kneeled beside me. "What happened?"

"Sophia happened," I grumbled. "Spouted more of that predator bullshit you were talking about yesterday." Emma frowned, then looked back at the locker. She seemed to have collected herself by now. "We still on for lunch?"

"Yeah. Rooftop." She clapped a hand on my back. "See you there." I watched her leave, then stood up and joined the sea of changing faces.

It was strange, going through school, now. My powers rewarded me for doing something as simple as handing an assignment at the end of class.

**Quest Complete: Stupid Assignment**

**Finish Mr. Gladly's stupid assignment**

**Hand in Mr. Gladly's stupid assignment at the end of class**

**Success: + 100 XP**

**Failure: Disappointment, Possibly Detention**

_Sigh._

Mr. Gladly's class was…surprisingly okay. No one stole my work, for one thing, so I assumed that Emma had kept her word and talked to Madison and Sophia. Clearly they hadn't listened, but maybe my display earlier had discouraged them.

I didn't go to get lunch. Instead, I headed straight to the roof, where I knew Emma would be waiting for me.

_Today has been real strange…_

When I opened the door, I saw Emma leaning out over the rails, her hair waving in the wind. Her gaze was unfocused, distinct lines of tears down her face. I stood there for a few moments before I joined her. We didn't exchange words at first – Emma acknowledged my existence by turning to look at me. A brief nod, and then she went back to staring disinterestedly at the traffic.

"You know," she said quietly, "I was going to kill myself last night. I had the razor ready and everything. Filled up the tub." She wiped a stray tear from her face before turning to face me. "But that would have been the easy way out. And taking the easy way would have been betraying you again. I can't do that." I nodded back at her, pondering over what I'd seen today. The things I'd picked up.

"Sophia is Shadow Stalker, isn't she?" I asked, keeping my tone as casual as possible. Emma did a double take, drawing back from the rail. She didn't look at me.

"Technically, if I knew a Ward's civilian identity, I wouldn't be allowed to tell you," she muttered softly. "Please don't ask me that."

"Alright, I won't ask you then. But I get it now. I get it." It hadn't taken long to put it all together. Throughout all my classes, I'd been thinking and thinking, trying to figure things out. They'd gotten so much trash into my locker, yet it hadn't fallen out. A long time ago, they'd stolen my mother's flute too. Sophia's HP was way higher than normal, and Emma had clammed up once I'd asked about how they got the stuff inside the locker. Blackwell and the teachers had never cared, and Sophia was always confident that she wouldn't be caught.

Shadow Stalker's power was a Breaker state, allowing her to go incorporeal. Shadow Stalker was a Ward, which meant that if she went to school, the head of that school would obviously know about it, like the way everyone knew Wards went to Arcadia. The school would probably get money for having a Ward there. So they'd do whatever it took to keep them there.

The power to go incorporeal would explain how they'd gotten things into my locker. And being Shadow Stalker…well, that at least explained why Blackwell didn't give two shits about what Sophia did. And Emma essentially just confirmed my theory.

_Sophia Hess is Shadow Stalker._

**Branched Quest Complete: Revelations**

**Figure out why Sophia got away with everything, and why Blackwell didn't care**

**Success: + 1000 XP, blackmail material**

**Failure: None**

**You are now LV. 3!**

**\+ 5 AP**

**\+ 10 HP, Stamina & MP**

_...oh. I forgot about that._

**Username: Taylor**

**Occupation: Student**

**LV. 3 (Next LV. 550/2000XP)**

**HP: 120/120 (REG 4.75 HP/min)**

**Stamina: 120/120 (REG 40 Stamina/min)**

**MP: 40/40 (REG 2 MP/min)**

**Title: None**

**STR: 5**

**VIT: 8+5 = 13**

**INT: 9**

**WIS: 5**

**DEX: 2**

**CHA: 4**

**LUK: 0**

**AP: 5**

**$: 0**

I quickly threw my 5 AP into WIS, only to receive another notification.

**\+ 1 MP REG**

Huh. So my WIS affected my MP REG…maybe 1 every 10 levels?

**\+ 1 WIS**

Yup, spot on. Although, it would be nice to be able to use MP…

_Another day._

"Taylor?" Emma looked concerned when the textbox closed. "Are you…are you alright?" I nodded.

"Mm. I'm fine."

"Okay, good."

"…Emma."

"Yeah?"

"Remember why we're up here?"

"Oh, right. Yeah. Talking. Talking. Okay. Yeah, sure. I'll talk."

It felt exhausting, talking to her. Yesterday I'd hated her. Now? She was nothing.

"So, uh…it was when you went on summer camp. Me and dad, we got attacked by the ABB." She shrunk in on herself. "I tried…I tried to fight back, but…well, you know. They…they overpowered me."

"They cut your hair, didn't they?" I still remembered that detail. When I'd first seen her with Sophia, her hair had been partially cut. I'd complimented it, and then she'd gone completely cold.

"Yeah. They…they did that."

"…I'm sorry for mentioning it that day."

_Why the hell am I apologizing?_

"It's okay. You…you don't have to apologize. I…don't deserve to be apologized to."

"Mm. So after that?"

"Oh. Right. After that I…well, I, we, got saved."

"Shadow Stalker?"

"Shadow Stalker."

"So she saved you…"

"Yeah." Emma shifted uncomfortably. "But only because I fought back. If I hadn't…" She shivered. "Sophia used to stand by and watch people get killed, mugged, raped because they didn't fight back. She said it was because if you didn't fight back, then you were prey. And if you did, you were stronger than them…"

"…a predator?"

"Exactly. She had this, uh, philosophy. That you have to prove your strength, by making sure that others are weaker than you, that predator and prey is how the world works. And…she chose you as my target."

"So you targeted me…because you didn't want to feel weak?" Her reasoning was stupid. And yeah, she looked up to Sophia and probably would have done anything for her after she saved them. But still, common sense still should have kicked in.

"…yeah."

"I could have helped you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I know."

"And instead you went and got swept up into Sophia's bullshit philosophy."

"Yeah. I…god, I messed up, huh? I really messed up."

"No kidding."

"And I…I was about to take the easy way out. I was about to…fuck. I'm such a bitch. I…I don't know what to say."

"Neither."

**Quest Complete: Truth Seeker**

**Figure out why the hell your best friend dumped you for a random piece of shit**

**Success: + 1400 XP, a huge revelation**

**Failure: None**

50 more XP and I'd be LV. 3. It'd be really convenient if I could just conjure quests up out of thin air…

Emma started crying.

_Oh, goddammit._

That wasn't even the worst part. She was trying to apologize at the same time, and I could barely understand her. In between the sniffs and quiet sounds, I just stopped trying.

"Emma, calm down."

Nope. Not a chance.

**New Quest: Calm Down!**

**Get Emma to stop crying so she can talk properly**

**Success: + 50 XP, + 1 CHA**

**Failure: A whole load of wasted time**

"Emma, please. Seriously. Just stop crying. It's alright." She did _not _stop crying. "Emma, I can't understand what you're saying." Well, that worked better. She wiped the tears away, still mumbling quietly to herself.

"I…where do we go from here?"

**Quest Complete: Calm Down!**

**Get Emma to stop crying so she can talk properly**

**Success: + 50 XP, + 1 CHA**

**Failure: A whole load of wasted time**

**You are now LV. 4!**

**\+ 5 AP**

**\+ 10 HP, Stamina & MP**

...I'd leveled up twice during our conversation. This was ridiculous. But…

…where _did _we go from here?

"I…" I stopped, then started again. "I can't forgive, and I can't forget. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. So…"

"But I…I can move on."

_I need to stop being so merciful. But hell, having the old Emma back would be nice._

I still remembered those days. The days when we'd been best friends, sisters in all but blood. No matter how much I tried, I could leave that version of Emma behind me. The one I'd always wanted to be around, the one I'd admired. My best friend.

"Do you think you can do that? Move on?"

"…I dunno. I dunno…"

"Because if you're willing to, I think I can try. It won't be instantaneous, and I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try."

"You'd…give me a second chance?"

"…I guess."

"You're too generous."

"I keep telling myself that."

"I don't deserve this."

"No, you don't. But my stupid good conscience is going to come back to bite me one day, so I need an answer."

"Uh…okay. Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

"Alright then."

"…"

"…"

This felt so awkward. The two of us, trying to talk civilly after a year and a half of anger directed at each other. But somehow, it felt right. Almost like the old days.

"I guess I'll see you later then," I muttered.

"Yeah. See you."

"Bye."

I left my position, walking to the door to head back downstairs. But suddenly, something walked through the door, as if it wasn't there. A darkened figure of a teenage girl...walking through a door. My suspicions were confirmed as she fully stepped through and reverted back to her original state.

Sophia Hess. Shadow Stalker.

She'd been eavesdropping on the whole thing – it had to be. That was why she…looked so…angry.

**New Quest: Shadow Showdown**

**Defeat Shadow Stalker**

**Success: + 7500 XP, + 1 PP**

**Failure: Severe Injury or Death**

_Oh. I'm fucked._

"Taylor _fucking _Hebert." Sophia charged at me as she screamed, "I told you that you should know your fucking place!" Emma shrieked and stumbled back, arms windmilling as Sophia slammed into me at full force. I hastily threw a punch at her before I hit the ground, rolling to the left as I clutched my arm.

**3 HP.**

**-5 HP.**

"But…" Sophia panted, "…you just couldn't – no, wouldn't – stay down, would you, huh?" I managed to dodge her next attack by rolling further, her foot hitting the roof hard as she turned her head, murderous gaze unwavering.

I quickly got up, getting into the most effective fighting stance I knew. Basic Unarmed Combat was useful, but not to a great extent. After all, it was barely levelled up at all.

"Screw off, Sophia!" I yelled as she threw another punch at me, which I barely managed to duck before attempting to punch her in the gut. Sophia shifted to her Breaker state, going through me before hitting me in the back.

**-2 HP.**

_Fuck. This is not going well._

_Observe._

**Sophia Hess**

**HP: 197/200**

**Stamina: 99/100**

**Status Conditions:**

**Bleeding**

**Aggressive**

Her HP was still down – she hadn't regenerated yet. Meanwhile, I'd recovered 2 HP. If I could hold out, long enough, just slowly chipping away at her…

"You know, it's your fault I have to do this," she ranted angrily as she kicked out at me, almost catching me by the shoulder as I twisted around and tried to lash my foot into her face. Instead, Sophia just grabbed it and smiled, before throwing me to the side.

**-4 HP.**

**-2 HP.**

_Dammit._

I needed to…I needed to do something. I needed to beat her.

Sophia was nearing again. Quickly, I spun around and kicked out again. She'd clearly predicted it – she moved to the side way too quickly. But as soon as she moved, I managed to buy enough time for me to get up again.

_This…this is a battle of attrition._

I jerked forward. Sophia took the bait, raising an arm and instantly giving me an opening to sweep her legs out from under her. Instead, she went incorporeal again. However, I knew she had to shift back to hit me. As soon as I saw the shadow solidifying, I lashed out with my foot…and kicked her in the gut.

**8 HP.**

_Yes! Yes!_

I grinned as Sophia stumbled, a shocked expression on her face. Not willing to give her time to recover, I quickly punched her in the face, maintaining my form.

**6 HP.**

"You bitch!" she shrieked, going incorporeal and charging towards me. I noticed Emma on the sidelines, looking conflicted as to whether she wanted to get involved. Sophia shoved me over before I could say anything, knocking the wind out of me. "You…fucking…bitch…" She punched me again, causing my head to knock against the floor.

**-6 HP.**

**-3 HP.**

"You're a weakling, Hebert! Do you hear that? A fucking weakling! Nothing more than–"

**4 HP.**

I stared in shock as I watched Sophia fall down beside me, an expression of agony on her face. Emma stood over the both of us, one of her textbooks in her hands.

…_oh._

I quickly scrambled away from Sophia, kicking her twice in the head before I got up.

**6 HP.**

**8 HP.**

"Is she knocked out?" Emma asked. She _was _lying still…

…but I wasn't going to risk it.

_Observe._

**Sophia Hess**

**HP: 153/200**

**Stamina: 99/100**

**Status Conditions:**

**Aggressive**

"…yup," I said loudly, before slamming the heel of my shoe into her cheek as hard as I could,

**9 HP.**

**\+ 1 VIT**

**Basic Unarmed Combat is LV. 3!**

"Fuck!" she yelled, before instantly switching to her Breaker state. Sophia – no, Shadow Stalker – grabbed at my leg and pulled me down, then kicked at Emma and caused her to fall onto her back.

**-4 HP.**

Before I could react, Shadow Stalker had thrown another punch at my face.

**-5 HP.**

Emma hadn't gotten up yet. She punched me again.

**-4 HP.**

And again.

**-3 HP.**

And again.

**-5 HP.**

God, I was loving this.

This felt way too similar to when I'd been trying to escape the locker. I tried to push her off of me, but she was too powerful. Her grin was…maddening.

"You're prey, Hebert! You're fucking _prey_!" Shadow Stalker grabbed me by the arms, dragging me towards the edge of the roof. I kicked and struggled, but she stubbornly refused to give. Emma got up, running towards us and trying to grab at Shadow Stalker. One kick and she was down once more. "And I," the maddened Ward said with a grin, "am gonna show you why."

And then she jumped off the roof, pulling me down with her.


	5. Shutdown 1-5

**Yes, I know this took forever. Real life caught up with me.**

**This included a two week trip to China. And after that, I couldn't be bothered to write again for about a week. **_**Before **_**the trip to China I had to stop because sometimes family is annoying as hell.**

**Anyways, I decided to upload this now rather than later because I leave again tomorrow for another week, to a place without the wonder of Wi-Fi. So I figured I'd rather give you something now than force you all to wait again. **

**Special thanks to DragonBard, because you're pretty much the reason why I decided to write this again instead of waiting.**

**Also, I suck at fight scenes.**

**Sorry.**

**Shutdown 1.5**

**-64 HP.**

**Damage Resistance is LV. 5!**

The wave of pain that hit me upon slamming hard into the ground…it was staggering. A little more, and I would have been dead.

_It really doesn't take much to kill me, huh?_

I was vaguely aware of Shadow Stalker standing up next to me, her body switching back from her Breaker state.

_Of course. That's how she…how she landed without getting injured._

"Later, Hebert," she said mockingly, before I felt her shoe slamming down onto my face, just as I'd done to her earlier.

**-11 HP.**

I heard her footsteps slowly receding as I tried and failed to get back to my feet.

"Argh…crap." I wondered how Emma was doing up on the roof. Hell, was she even awake? Or was she lying there, unconscious, after Shadow Stalker had kicked her?

I wasn't sure what to think about Emma's relationship with the Ward. They'd clearly been friends, but all in one day, Sophia had gone from being buddy-buddy with her to kicking her in the face. Although, that was probably my fault. And then again, just yesterday, I'd felt nothing but hatred towards the Emma who'd tormented me for so long. Now, so abruptly, we were acting civilly towards each other.

The world, I thought, had stopped making sense.

I didn't want to get up, at first. Shadow Stalker had done a number on me, and I didn't want to risk death or unconsciousness. But…

_But that bitch has to be taught a lesson._

Not only that, but I had a quest now. And that XP reward was hardly insignificant. I'd probably be able to level up twice more.

And…why had she even left me alone?

The answer hit me like a sack of bricks. Emma. She wasn't going to finish me off – she already knew I was prey. But Emma…she'd been a so called 'predator', and Sophia didn't think she was worthy of that title anymore.

There was no way Emma would get out of this easy. There was no way Emma would get out of this without at least a serious injury.

Or, at least, there was no way of that happening without my intervention. But that alone was ridiculous. Sophia was Shadow Stalker. A Ward. A cape. Sure, I was one too. But compared to her, I was _weak_. Barely able to fight back. The only reason I'd been able to do _anything _to her on the roof was because she'd underestimated me, held back. Because I wasn't worth the _effort_. Emma, meanwhile, had once been classified a predator. And Sophia wouldn't hold back on a predator.

She had experience, too. I'd had my powers for less than a day. I had barely reached the limits of what I could accomplish. I still had no clue how much I could possible grow. Sophia, though? She'd had her powers for a while. Shadow Stalker had been a vigilante long before joining the Wards. She'd met _Emma _long before joining. She could go incorporeal, and although I was gradually getting stronger, none of that would help against someone who could completely ignore my attacks and hit back harder than I could.

But hell, if I didn't try…I was no better than all the people who'd stood idly by whilst the trio had tormented – no, tortured – me. Well, no, there was a significant difference there – this could be a matter between life and death. I could be putting my _life _on the line here.

…but that was what heroes were supposed to do.

And Sophia Hess, Shadow Stalker, was _not _a hero.

I pressed my palms against the ground, groaning as I managed to push myself over so that I was lying on my back. My hands had left bloody imprints on the ground – that wasn't a good sign.

**Bleeding (Negates HP REG): 4:26**

_Crap._

**HP: 27/130 (REG 4.75 HP/min) (Negated by Bleeding)**

That…was not promising. 27 HP. 27 HP to take down an experienced parahuman with the ability to go incorporeal. The odds were most definitely _not _in my favour. But…but I had to try.

With great difficulty, I managed to pull myself up via the wall of the school – I was still panting loudly and bleeding like a broken fountain, but I managed to slowly stumble through the empty halls.

Not surprisingly, I didn't come across Sophia on my way through the first floor. It was only after the agonisingly long and painful walk up the first flight of stairs that I saw her, leisurely walking along as if she hadn't just jumped off the roof of the very building she was walking up, with me unwillingly in tow. I would have called Sophia crazy, but I knew that wasn't true. Mentally Unstable hadn't shown up on her list of Status Conditions. No. This was just the way she was.

_I could get to her now. Not take her down, but definitely deal some damage. _

I didn't hesitate. I broke into a Sprint, feeling my Stamina steadily draining as I launched myself at Sophia, my fist pulled back. Shadow Stalker turned before I was even anywhere close – she grinned maniacally as she shifted into her Breaker state, allowing me to pass through her and hit the ground hard.

**-4 HP.**

"Oh, Hebert," she sighed, walking up to me with that same sadistic grin on her face. "You _really _need to learn when to stay down, you know that?"

"Fuck off," I growled, which only succeeded in making her laugh. It wasn't a normal laugh – it was loud and expressive, yet completely hollow and void of true emotion. It was an outlet for the abnormal level of sadism she carried wherever she went.

_How the fuck did they think she would be a good Ward?_

"You can try as much as you want, but you'll always be prey," she said as she placed her foot on my chest. I gasped as she pushed down, feeling the air being pushed out of my body.

**-1 HP.**

"I keep telling you that, Hebert. Why won't you just listen? Why can't you just fucking_ listen_?!"

**-1 HP.**

"Everything was perfect. Absolutely, fricking _perfect_! And you had to ruin it!"

**-1 HP.**

"So tell me, Hebert. Have you learned your place yet? Have you."

**-1 HP.**

"Learned."

**-1 HP.**

"Your."

**-1 HP.**

"Mother."

**-1 HP.**

"Fucking."

**-1 HP.**

"Place?"

15 HP. That was all I had left. A few more hits and I'd be dead.

My vision was blurry – I was seeing double as I stared at Sophia, feeling my consciousness fading.

"That all you got, Hebert? That all you – fuck!"

**3 HP.**

There was a sudden blur of red, before Shadow Stalker was roughly tackled to the floor, not even being given a chance to go incorporeal.

**2 HP.**

And lying on top of her was…Emma.

"Taylor! Get up!" Emma yelled, just before Sophia easily tossed her aside. She wheezed as she rolled, using the wall to support herself as Sophia began to approach her. "We can take her down! She can't–" Emma was cut off as Sophia's fist slammed into her face, sending her down to the floor. "Fuck!" She wiped a trail of blood leaking out of her nose as she looked at me with desperation. "She can't go through a strong electrical current!"

_A strong electrical…oh._

Sophia couldn't go through a strong electrical current…did wires in walls qualify? What about lights? A Taser?

Then again, if Sophia was dumb enough to walk through a wall while incorporeal when there could be wires in it, she'd probably be dead by now.

I heard a door opening further down the hall. People were probably going to see this fight, whether we liked it or not. I just hoped that it wouldn't be recorded.

I got to my feet, though my breathing was still strained. I checked my Status Conditions.

**Bleeding (Negates HP REG): 0:45**

Only a little longer. I could handle a beating.

"Sophia!" I shrieked as I ran towards her. "Get the fuck away from her!" I knew she would either dodge or go incorporeal. That was just the way she worked. Her reflexes. But I had no intention to attack her directly. As soon as she turned incorporeal, I ran through her, taking Emma by the hand and dragging her into the female bathroom.

I'd gone here often to hide from the trio – I'd been eating my lunch in this bathroom instead of the cafeteria for ages. But that wasn't what I was focused on.

I was here for the light. The single, blinking light which clung to the ceiling in such a way that it would probably fall off without any human assistance. Sophia followed us into the bathroom, drifting through the door before reverting back to her regular form.

She easily batted Emma aside, the redhead stumbling violently into a stall before Sophia grabbed me by the throat and slammed me into the mirror, just the way she had a few hours ago.

**-4 HP.**

I felt the glass shattering. Shards fell to the flood, accompanied by a loud tinkle every time one made contact with the tiles.

"You…" she muttered incomprehensibly, before raising her hand and forcing me upwards, my back scraping against the wall and broken glass.

**-5 HP.**

"You, Hebert…are fucking _pathetic_."

"I'm pretty sure you've said that fifty times today."

"Shut up! I tried to tell you! I told you that you should know your fucking p–"

"Oh, she knows her place, alright." Suddenly, Emma's arms came around Sophia's neck, pulling her back and allowing me to fall to the ground.

**-1 HP.**

"My place? It's above you, Sophia." I grabbed one of the shards lying on the ground, being careful not to let the edge cut my hand. "Because _you're _the one who's prey." I threw the shard at the light above us. My aim, quite surprisingly, didn't fail me.

The glass broke, a shower of electric spark descending down upon us, whilst Sophia was still incorporeal from getting out of Emma's grasp.

**13 HP.**

Shadow Stalker recoiled, instantly shifting back from her Breaker state and letting out an inhuman scream. The rest of the light quickly fell down, smacking both Shadow Stalker and Emma on the head before it hit the floor with a deafening crash.

**10 HP.**

However, Sophia was still up. And she was even angrier than before.

"You're gonna fucking die, Hebert!" Her recovery was, unfortunately, faster than Emma's. One blink, and then her fist collided with the side of my head.

**-2 HP.**

_I…is this really how I die?_

Another punch, to the other side.

**-2 HP.**

Her blows were weaker, but just one more…and then I was dead. I'd been mentally counting my remaining HP ever since I'd gotten the Bleeding Condition. If I was going to die here…well, that was just…

…_pathetic._

But I definitely wasn't prey. Because I'd fought back. And by Sophia's philosophy, that made me a predator.

**-2 HP.**

_...what?_

**HP: 1/130 (REG 4.75 HP/min) **

Bleeding was gone. I'd regenerated 1 HP.

_Talk about a godsend._

…which wouldn't be very useful if I allowed myself to be hit again.

_Alright, now I've gotta–_

**5 HP.**

Something hit the back of Sophia's head. She jerked forwards, then grunted as it hit her again.

_Emma._

Shadow Stalker quickly shifted into her Breaker state to avoid being hit by the next blow…

…and that ended up being her undoing. Because the next moment, Sophia Hess was lying unconscious on the floor beside me.

**57 HP.**

Emma stood bent over her, panting uncontrollably as she looked at me worriedly.

"What…what did you do?" I asked, still worried about my extremely low HP.

**HP: 3/130 (REG 4.75 HP/min) **

"I hit her…hit her with my phone. I figured it had some…had some electricity in it." Despite the situation, I laughed. We'd just severely injured a Ward, and yet here I was, laughing.

"Oh, man. We're messed up, huh?"

"No shit."

Emma looked…conflicted. I had to admit I shared the sentiment. I could hardly believe everything that had happened today.

"Did we…did we really just do that?"

"Beat Shadow Stalker?" I shifted my hand, nudging Sophia. Her eyes fluttered open, widening in confusion before I slammed my fist between her eyes.

**2 HP.**

**Quest Complete: Shadow Showdown**

**Defeat Shadow Stalker**

**Success: + 7500 XP, + 1 PP**

**Failure: Severe Injury or Death**

**You are now LV. 5!**

**\+ 10 HP, Stamina & MP**

**\+ 5 AP**

**\+ 1 PP**

**You are now LV. 6!**

**\+ 10 HP, Stamina & MP**

**\+ 5 AP **

…_holy crap._

"Yeah. For sure. She's out." Sophia Hess. Shadow Stalker. My tormentor. She was knocked out cold, by the both of us. Things had escalated so quickly over the past few days that I was still struggling to comprehend them. Once, I never would have dreamed of trying to stand up to Sophia. And now she was there on the ground, completely still apart from the slight rise and fall that came with her breath. Sophia was Shadow Stalker. Shadow Stalker was a Ward. I'd just attacked a Ward and come out on top.

This…was not a good thing.

_Can she still twist this story her way? _

Maybe. Maybe not. It was a chance for justice, she supposed. A chance to get back at her for everything she'd ever done. If Emma confessed…well, that would just make things easier, even if Madison remained stubborn.

Madison…I wasn't sure whether she was even going to be a problem anymore. She'd stood with Sophia this morning, before I'd met up with Emma on the roof. She'd tried to act tough, angry.

_Where are you now? _What _are you now, Madison?_

"Do you think we'll get arrested?" Emma's laugh put me off for a moment. I'd thought that she'd been laughing at _me_. I didn't realise that it was the _situation _that she found so hilarious.

"We tortured you for more than a year, Taylor. More than a goddamned year. Beat the shit out of you, humiliated you…we _ruined_ your life. Hell, we shoved you in a locker full of the most disgusting shit I've ever laid my eyes on, and we were gonna call it a fucking _accident_. An accident. I'll…tell them what I did. Everything _we _did to you. Sophia, over there? She was on goddamned _probation _for almost killing a guy on patrol." I blinked.

"You're shitting me," I said, even though she wasn't.

"You know I ain't." Emma quirked an eyebrow at me. "Everything she helped do to you violated her probation. As soon as the PRT and the Protectorate find out about this, she's going to juvie. Hell, if the locker counts as attempted murder, then she'll probably be stuck in the _Birdcage_, Taylor. Birdcaged."

"But that means you'll go to juvie too. You and Madison, and everyone else involved."

"Yeah," she said, then cracked a grin at me. "Funny, huh? We used to want to be heroes together, you and me."

"Yeah," I muttered. I thought about Shadow Stalker, who until recently, I'd thought of as a hero. "Heroes."

"I can't remember what we used to call ourselves," Emma said as she stared at the ceiling. Her eyes were unfocused, dreamy. "I was…Imprint or something."

"Echo." A name made by children. Two young girls, best friends, oblivious to the horrors of the world.

_What would I have thought of our current situation back then?_

"Yeah, that. And you were…crap. You were…something to do with dragons."

"Drake?" I could barely remember. Those memories felt so alien to me that I had gone out of my way to forget about them. "Wait, no. It was more elegant than that."

"I think it was Naga," Emma said thoughtfully. "It was definitely something about dragons. Why was that again?"

"Because the day we started playing heroes, we'd seen that Aleph movie. The one with the dragons."

"Ah, right," Emma muttered. "Can't remember the name. Bloody hell." I could hear commotion outside. People wondering what the hell was going on inside the bathroom. "Fuck, this is hard. Uh…did it have the word heart in there?"

"Emma."

"Uh, doesn't matter. We were talking about us wanting to be heroes, not some shitty Aleph movie. And I remember it being shitty."

"_Emma_."

"I…keep thinking about that. I can't stop."

"Emma!" She stopped, finally paying attention to me.

"Yeah?"

"Bloody hell, Emma. Just…listen." I wasn't sure whether I wanted to do this. I was half certain that this would come back to bite me in the ass.

_But I said I was willing to move on._

"You remember what happened at the end of last night? We told the other girls not to…not to talk about us?"

"Yeah?"

"I…when we walk out—because we _will _walk out, whether I go first or you do—I want you to pretend you had nothing to do with this. But that you…that you knew Sophia was doing it, but you were afraid of what she'd do to you if she found out you'd snitched." Emma's expression was…curious. Interesting. Shocked, confused, unsure.

"W-what?"

"If you tell them what you did, you'll be going to juvie. That much is for certain."

"So?"

"I don't bloody want to send you off when I just told you I'd be willing to try again." We stared at each other in silence, for a while. I could see the questions she wanted to ask, just from looking at her eyes. She wanted to know _why_. Why I would allow her to walk free despite being the one who'd led the other two. "I…I miss you. The old you. And I know that I won't likely ever…likely ever meet that you ever again. You're…you're different now, that's undeniable. But I want to try, to move on, to, to…I don't know. Something. So…"

"You know they're never gonna fall for that, right?"

"Then I won't press charges."

"You've complained, like, ten million times. That ain't how this shit works. People will testify, just to draw suspicion away from themselves, or try to get off scot-free."

"Then…fuck."

"Yeah. Fuck."

"Well, we have to walk out of there."

"Yeah."

"You want me to go first?"

"…yes please."

"Cool. You gonna be alright?" Emma didn't answer at first. She spent a few more seconds in silence – the amount of time she spent contemplating the question was enough to give me my answer. "Alright. Just stay…just stay safe. I'll try to draw the heat." Emma only nodded in reply.

"Go," she said quietly. "Good luck." I nodded back.

The walk towards the door was agonizing. I could hear people on the other side, talking in hushed whispers. I raised my hand, then gently pulled the door open.

I saw faces in the crowd gathered around the door. Madison. Mr. Gladly, Mrs. Knott. That girl who'd hung around the trio, Julia. Principal Blackwell.

Behind me, something banged against a stall, and the entire row shook. As Emma screamed hoarsely from inside the stall, I opened the door the rest of the way, and stepped outside. As soon as I heard it close behind me, Emma's pained shrieks were reduced to disturbing whispers of the wind.

"What the fuck?"

"The hell happened?"

"Miss Hebert? Care to explain yourself?"

The voices came, all at once. A storm of sound, insults and queries which, at the moment, I wasn't confident I could brave.

So instead of answering, I stared. Because I didn't know what to say.

In the bathroom, Emma continued to scream.

But at least the banging had stopped.


	6. Interlude 1-x

**Why yes, it appears that this story is indeed not dead, but has merely lowered itself to shitty cliff-hangers, as well as unsatisfying and terribly written interludes.**

**Why yes, this appears to be the reason why the length of time between this update and the last was so long.**

**Why yes, I do think I'll go leave before you all can kill me for how terrible this is (though I sincerely apologize for the quality of this chapter and the wait time).**

**Interlude 1.x **

It hadn't been Emma's idea. Sophia had suggested it – Hebert being dead wouldn't help _any _of them, really. A major, possibly life-threatening injury? Surprisingly, things like that could still be waved away, but an actual dead body?

…Those were harder to deal with. Actual investigations happened. When bodies appeared, people paid _attention_. Legitimate attention.

Even if the body in question belonged to a weakling like Taylor Hebert. A useless, fucking, goddamned _weakling_. One that refused to take the opportunities presented to her. To become something _greater _than what she was. And how many times had Emma offered it to her, the opportunity to become something greater? The power, the…_everything_ which came with what she was. She and Sophia both. Madison too, to a small extent, she supposed, but she wasn't anywhere close to their level. No, Madison could pretend. But she was just as much as a sheep as the rest of the crowd who followed the three of them around, longing for that power, their influence.

They never attained it.

Sheep, all of them, no more than tender sheep in a wolf's furry hide. Ferocious at first glance, but tear that away, and all of that aura, that presence…

…it meant nothing.

"We don't want the weakling dying on us," Sophia had told her. "She's not worth all this goddamned effort, but you know what happens if they catch us." She did. Her, Sophia, Madison, they'd be _screwed _for _life_. What were they supposed to do if Taylor—goddamned weakling—died on them? Sophia's status wouldn't protect her then. She was already on probation. One more strike and she would be out.

And Emma? She had her modeling career—no way was she giving that up. Fuck that.

_Yeah. Fuck that_, she thought. _Fuck it all_.

And that was the entire reason why she ended up walking to Winslow at 10 pm. On a fucking _school night_. Goddamn this whole locker thing. It definitely wasn't worth all this extra effort. This should have been easy, should've been simple.

That was what she kept telling herself at the time, all that time, walking through darkened streets under flickering street lamps, their reaching arms casting twisted shadows onto the street, always reaching…

No. No, she was a predator. And she wouldn't fall prey to stupid, irrational childish fears. Because that was fear. Something irrational. Predators weren't afraid of things. Predators didn't get scared. NO, predators fucking _dealt _with the fucking problem, and then they MOVED ON.

And Taylor Hebert was a problem. Which meant she needed to be dealt with.

_And once, she was your friend._

_**Back when I was weak.**_

_She's withstood all of this. Everything you've put her through._

_**And yet she never fights back.**_

_She doesn't want to hurt you._

_**Then that makes her weak.**_

_It means she has restraint._

_**Restraint is for cowards. I'm a predator. You don't need restraint to survive.**_

_Keel telling yourself that._

She almost screamed then. To do what, she wasn't sure. To tell her thoughts to shut up, perhaps. And make people think she was insane in the process.

No. She had to stay calm.

Think. Be calm. Predators didn't lose their heads, did they?

_No. No we don't, _she thought, and that was the end of that.

Somewhere behind her, two men were laughing. One of them swung a glass bottle in his hand, back and forth in a rocking motion which temporarily disconnected her from reality as she looked away.

_Don't let it get to you._

"You know talking to Skids like that ain't gonna end well. Just you fucking wait."

"I'll be fine. Stop being an asshole."

"Nah. I'm_ serious _here. That man doesn't forget the shit people do to him. He ain't a genius, but he isn't a fucking retard either. He's competent enough to know when people are screwing with him, and it doesn't please him."

Merchants. Somehow, it didn't even surprise her, despite this not even being their territory. Loudmouthed, bigheaded, total crackpots. The Merchants held territory, but they strayed past it so often that it may as well have not existed. The boundaries which existed in Brockton Bay only existed when people could actually bother to give a fuck. Otherwise?

"Hey, miss!"

This was what happened.

The men chortled with laughter, one of them whistling as she increased her pace. For all she knew, he was probably staring at her butt.

"Oi! Miss! Wait up a sec!"

_Nope. Nope, nope, nope. I'm a predator, not an idiot._

"Dude, stop," the other man suddenly said. "This ain't a good idea."

"And how is that?"

"You know what's gonna happen if she screams. Skids will hear about it." Blessed silence followed his words, if only for a few seconds. But the man's next words put Emma at ease.

"Shit. Fuck, you're right." Emma kept her eyes looking forward, fixed towards Winslow. She was almost there. All she needed to do was get inside, make sure Hebert was still alive, and then she could be off on her merry way.

Or at least, that was what she thought until she saw the truck. She hadn't thought much of it at first – the traffic wasn't too heavy, and a truck wasn't a rare sight. But then she realized three things. A: The Merchants had mysteriously disappeared behind her. B: The name of the company the truck belonged to wasn't one she'd ever heard of. And C: The driver was Asian. Which sounded pretty racist, but when you lived in Brockton Bay, all three of those signs pointed to two things. 'Gang', and 'ABB'.

And Emma was absolutely screwed.

She was a predator. A goddamned predator. But seeing the ethnicity of the man behind the wheel was all it took to send her running like a weakling, like a sheep. Like prey. Because Emma's only memories of the gang were horrifying. Screw Taylor Hebert – if she died in that stupid locker, then that was on her. She shouldn't have forced their hands. Emma couldn't bear to experience it again. She wouldn't let it happen.

No.

NO.

_**NO!**_

The wheels spun faster. The vehicle neared. Emma ran. Fast, then faster, then as fast as she could. Headlights shone. Tires squealed. The vehicle hummed, hummed, hummed – all humming, so loud, closer, closer, CLOSER–

For Emma, it had felt like she had been running for hours. Hours upon hours of fleeing from that vehicle as it neared closer and closer, her breathing reduced to loud panting. And yet it had barely taken twenty seconds for the truck to catch up, and the door to slam open. And then, as she had seen the man aiming his gun at her, and the frightened, bound girls behind him, Emma's world had ended for the second time.

((E))

She wasn't sure how long she had sat there, shaking in fear and anger. The door was completely shut – no light was allowed in. The only source of light, the only thing allowing her to see, was the glow of their guard's phone as he played a mobile game. Emma had learned after the first five minutes that trying to escape was a bad idea. She'd tried to fight him off, as he had pushed her against the wall, bound and gagged her before forcing her to sit in a cross-legged position.

Needless to say, it hadn't ended well. Her aching ribs were proof of that. When the door had opened, when the man had gotten out to grab her, none of the other girls had tried to make a break for it. They'd just kept sitting there, watching it happen. They'd barely even blinked. Even when she'd been forced to sit down, the other girls had merely shuffled to the side, eyes flickering between her and the guard.

All so scared.

So hesitant.

She didn't try to run again. How the hell was she supposed to? It had taken barely any time for him to slam her against the wall, his the horrific stench of his breath wafting into her nose as his face neared hers, mere inches apart. He'd barked something at her, something which she hadn't understood word for word. It definitely hadn't been in English. But no matter what language, a threat was always distinguishable. And the guard's words had been a threat.

She'd sat down once more, this time on her own. He'd nodded at her, out of approval, relief, or something else, she wasn't sure. But as the truck moved on and the floor shook beneath them, the guard remained vigilant. The gun was no longer aimed at them but still remained by his side, easy to reach in case anyone tried to stir up trouble.

None of them did.

One of the girls, the blonde one, threw up sometime later. They had seen the signs earlier, of course – the guard had noticed her abruptly jerking forwards, gurgling sounds coming from her throat. He'd ungagged her, holding her head forward as the vomit poured out like an oozing waterfall, both liquid and solid chunks of food splattering onto the metal floor. The other girls had hurriedly inched away, Emma included, as they were subjected to the terrible smell. The guard had slipped the gag back on immediately after, despite the girl's protests and insistence that she needed air. The girl opposite her had quietly whimpered. The guard had shot her a pointed glance, but when she made no more noise he went back to silently playing his game.

And then they heard gunfire.

Every single one of them had screamed when the first bullet punched through one side of the truck and then the other. The guard had waved his gun around and told them all to 'shut the fuck up!' before the next bullet had entered, and the next, and the next. There were screams, explosions, the truck rattling as something enormous slammed into its side. Someone squealed. The guard threatened them again. Emma was pretty sure that at any moment, the truck was going to explode, with them still inside of it.

She still wasn't sure what the hell was going on. Somehow, she doubted this to be coincidental. Had the cops found out? Had a random gang shootout occurred out here in the middle of the street?

_NO, this HAS to be about us. They HAVE to have found out about the truck. That's gotta be what happened. _

And so Emma cried silently as the sounds of gunfire continued around the outside of the truck, praying that someone would open the door, and take her away from here. She couldn't bear to be here any longer. Couldn't bear to be with _them_, not the ABB, anyone but them… well, not _anyone_, but of all the possible groups that could have been driving by in this truck, why did it have to be–

And then the door opened. The guard moved. The gun fired, bullets flew, and the car directly behind the truck abruptly went up in flames, an explosion shaking the ground. And throughout it all, Emma saw a figure moving around in the darkness, barely illuminated by the flickering light of the orange tongues of flame. And to her chagrin, the figure was one she recognised. One she loathed.

_Please_, she thought to herself, _don't tell me that I'm going to be saved from the ABB by Taylor Hebert. _

She would have even taken Greg Veder, at least he didn't pretend to be better than he was. At least he didn't stand up to her as if he was worth _anything_. But fucking _Taylor_?

And what the fuck was she doing here? She was supposed to be inside the… locker. Emma caught herself wincing slightly when she saw the blood covering Taylor's clothes.

_Nope, nope, nope. You're not gonna feel sorry for Hebert, of all people. Nope, nope, nope._

No. She wasn't sorry. Wasn't sorry at all, watching the girl, her former best friend, somehow dodge a bullet at a distance of less than a meter. No, she was almost gleeful. Almost. Because no matter how satisfied Emma felt seeing Taylor finally taking one of the many opportunities she'd had handed her to rise above her status as prey, she had realized her own weakness.

She'd deluded herself into thinking that she worthy of her title as a predator. And the ABB had proven her wrong, picking her up as if she was nothing but a clueless sheep, thrashing wildly only due to discomfort as it was dragged away for slaughter or exploitation, neither of which were favorable. And here Taylor was, having somehow escaped from the locker, covered in blood and other assorted shit, facing off against a man with a gun.

She hadn't thought it was possible. But any thoughts of superiority over Taylor died the moment their eyes met, and she saw the fire within them. She had seen Taylor as she dived behind the car, and somehow, she found herself begging. Begging for Taylor to free them, somehow.

And Taylor had understood, just by looking at her. Emma had stood up, head-butted the guard out of the truck. Made an opening. A narrow one, sure, but it was enough.

It was what they needed. And then Taylor emerged from behind the car and used a gun to put bullets into two men.

…

She couldn't comprehend it, at first. She hadn't _wanted _to. But it didn't take her very long to understand. She had turned Taylor into a predator. At the cost of reducing herself to prey.

Even when they'd gotten out of the truck, even when they started running, Emma was replaying those moments in her mind. Over and over again she saw the gun, the bullet, and the explosion of flesh and blood, a man crying out, Taylor, standing there. Staring.

_Did you enjoy it, Taylor? Did you enjoy doing that?_

She didn't dare ask.

So she asked other things instead, tried to talk to her, while in the back of her mind, she was wondering where the hell Taylor had put those guns.

_She never dropped them. Fuck, she'd have to be stupid to drop weapons with everything going on._

_Where the fuck are they?_

It wasn't as if Taylor was interested in talking to her. So she begged. Tried to share her philosophy with her, the way Sophia had shown her the way the world truly worked. Trying to tell her what she was. That she was the prey, and that Taylor was the predator now. But Taylor? She didn't care about that.

Taylor wanted to know what happened on that day.

The day Emma met Sophia.

She didn't want to tell her. Couldn't tell her. Not here, not now, maybe not ever.

_She's the predator now. If she wants something, she'll fucking get it._

And that was why she agreed to talk tomorrow. Maybe the only reason. Just that sparkle of curiosity was enough for her.

Because Taylor needed to know. And Emma knew that. She deserved it. She'd earned her title. And now it was time for her reward.

But…she had to get home first, and so she did.

((E))

She didn't press the doorbell, at first. She found herself staring, standing stock still as cars drove past behind her and the faulty light on the other side of the road flickered sporadically. The bulb blinked repeatedly, casting strange shadows over the road. Emma blinked, shaking her head before reaching out her arm to ring the bell. She tried to ignore how shaky the movement was.

It didn't take long for someone to arrive. She heard footsteps, rapid and frantic, as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, unable to find that sense of balance that usually came naturally to her. But it gone, left her, just like everything she'd once used to carry herself. Everything she'd used to rise above the sheep. Because as she stood there, shifting and shivering, she felt no confidence, no belief in herself.

That had left her when she'd stopped being a predator, too.

Frail as she was, the look on her mother's face was filled with as much love as it always was, and the sense of familiarity was enough to bring Emma to tears. Half a second later she was being enveloped in a familiar warm embrace, her face buried into her mother's chest.

It didn't matter.

Predators and prey?

Sophia's philosophy.

…

Fuck that.

Fuck it all.

Love came first. Always first, not second, third, fourth, fifth… no. Fuck everything that had ever come out of Sophia's mouth, her speeches about them taking their rightful places in the world, dominating the social hierarchy, of things like status and structure…

Because, Emma realized as she cried and her mother comforted her, it had all been a lie. A huge, enormous lie comprised of the biggest pile of bullshit in existence. Because Sophia Hess was bullshit, and her words were bullshit, and that bullshit philosophy and her title as a goddamned predator hadn't fucking helped her out of that truck, they?

…

No.

Taylor had. Taylor had helped her, freed them, and severely injured two men without hesitation. And it hadn't been for her. But it still counted, and as far as Emma was concerned, whether Taylor was predator or prey, she'd saved her life, just like Sophia had. And she'd done it without preaching bullshit promises.

_Fuck Sophia._

_Fuck her._

As she was ushered into the house, she refused to meet her father's eyes, refused to listen to his rants, his questions.

_Where have I been? WHERE have I BEEN?_

…

What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to _do_?

She broke away from her mother's grip. There was a yelp of surprise, a shriek of outrage and a cry of concern, but to her, it was all background noise, compared to the voices in her head.

_What have you done? What have you done to her?_

_What have you–?_

_What have–_

…

_What have __**I **__done? _

She saw her sister on her way upstairs. She ran past before her older sibling could create an opportunity to exchange more words.

_I can't._

_I can't talk about it._

_I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T–_

When she opened the door to her room, she slammed it shut behind her, ignoring the loud thump and the thundering footsteps coming up the stairs. Locking the door was trivial, a twist of her wrist and it was done. They wouldn't be getting in without breaking down the door.

Concluding that her father wouldn't try and do that, even with that much alcohol in his system (because no, she didn't miss how bad his breath smelt), she closed her eyes.

And then she screamed.

Emma screamed for herself, the old version of herself, the one before the alley. She screamed for Taylor the girl whose life she'd utterly destroyed over the course of the time they'd spent at Winslow together. And she screamed for the title that had twisted her life, a title which she had obsessed over and worshipped more than she had truly owned it. A title that had ruled over her life without her noticing, controlling her actions as if she was nothing but a puppet on strings.

Predator.

She clawed at her hair, scratched her skin, felt the places she'd harmed sting as warm tears flowed over them like a waterfall running through a stream, and she just _didn't FUCKING __**CARE **_because she didn't even fucking deserve to live in this goddamned–

FUCK! FUCKING… GODDAMMIT!

Emma felt herself reaching for the door handle, using to pull herself up. And then she staggered, half-blinded by the torrent of tears as she entered the bathroom, though for what she wasn't sure. At first she headed over to the sink, to wash her face. But even as she turned on the tap, she was looking at her reflection.

Red eyes, hair, and clothes disheveled, rope burns on her wrists which weren't likely to ever disappear. A permanent reminder of what had happened tonight.

And then she punched her reflection.

The mirror shattered, a spider web of cracks manifesting from the place where her fist had impacted the glass. Blood splashed over the glass, seeping into the cracks just before her other fist joined the first, another spider web forming from her split knuckles. She punched, again and again, her scream growing louder and her voice growing hoarse as the shards of glass fell from their place on the wall.

She didn't stop at the mirror. She slammed against the walls, threw bottles of liquid and perfume and all the vain bullshit she'd bought because why the fuck not? And she screamed and she cried and walked over the bloody and trampled broken glass without realizing that it was there, and the water from the tap kept pouring and going around the wall, swishing, swishing, swishing, fast, faster, faster–

Emma collapsed in a pile of blood, water, and broken glass, the two liquids mixing together until they were all a single puddle of crimson fluid, surrounding her like she was an island in the middle of an ocean of blood. And it felt that way, all her emotions boiling on the inside. Like she was a volcano ready to blow.

Her eyes laid upon the shard of glass clenched in her hand, the broken edges cutting into her skin. It wouldn't take much, would it? Just bring it a little over to the left, yes, over the wrist right there, good, good.

Keep the hand steady. Stop shaking. Don't. Shake. Be. Steady.

_Stop hesitating, goddammit._

Don't listen, don't think, just do it.

JuSt FuCkInG dO iT yOu UsElEsS–

**DESTINATION.**

**END OF ARC 1: SHUTDOWN**


	7. Restart 2-1

**Wow. What a shock. I'm not dead.**

**Le Gasp.**

**I most humbly apologize for a) how long this took, I mean I was writing an original story but I didn't expect to spend so much time on it, b) the quality of this chapter, and c) the frigging time-skip. I'll leave something at the end for those who really need to know the details about what went on after Emma went psycho in the bathroom.**

**Enjoy, friends. And haters. I guess.**

**Restart 2.1**

"I'm not selling you this for seventy-five."

"Well, I'm not frigging paying you _eighty-five._"

"You... you skipped all the way down to seventy-five! You're not meant to do that! You're meant to go slower!" I raised an eyebrow. This guy had little to no experience at all in this business, did he? Then again, I was currently attempting to get his broken, useless TV for a price which probably wasn't even an eighth of what he'd originally paid, so that might explain the weirdness of this entire situation.

I shifted my weight from my right foot to my left, scrutinising the TV for several seconds.

_Observe._

**Broken TV**

**HP: 13/200**

_A shitty TV. Got smashed in during a drunken fistfight._

Ouch.

I'd already Observed it several times, but the HP bar made me want to wince every time.

"Yeah. Sorry buddy. Can I offer you an _extremely _generous seventy-five fifty?" I asked, knowing that the answer was probably going to be a flat no.

"Is this a joke?!" He was trying to sound intimidating, but he honestly just seemed ridiculously terrified.

"No. I'm being completely serious. Oh, you know what? Seventy-six. I'll be nice."

"I told you that the lowest I'd go-"

"You said the lowest you'd go is eight-five. I don't see why another nine dollars makes that much of a difference."

**Bargaining is LV. 2!**

Jesus, this conversation had been going on so long that my _newly acquired ability _had already levelled up.

"Oh, fuck it." I shrugged at him. "Seventy-six, or I'm leaving." The man gaped at me like a fish, before sighing and extending his hand with the palm facing upwards.

"Goddamit."

_Yes. Goddammit indeed. I just wasted ten minutes trying to get a discount on a worthless piece of junk._

Well, it wouldn't be worthless for me – my Crafting ability was on LV. 3, and I was sure that I could do something useful with this. But for now, I handed the man seventy-six dollars (God, I missed my money already) and grabbed the TV. The motion was effortless, yet another reminder that I needed to tone down my abilities in public, now. They were starting to become noticeable now.

"Pleasure doing business with you!" I called back cheerfully as the man swore at me. I rolled my eyes, turning the corner. I quickly ducked into an alley, and after finding no prying eyes (although there _was _an unhealthy number of needles) I set down the TV.

_Inventory._

A blue box appeared in front of me, filled by a ten-by-ten grid of squares. The first three were occupied by two handguns and the combined number of bullets they shared. My gaze hovered over them, before picking up the TV and throwing it at the box. It sunk into it with a flash of light, and then the TV was there in the fourth space of the grid, in all its broken, unusable glory.

I felt the vibrations of the phone in my pocket, and grimaced. Only one person in the world had my number, and that was Emma.

_What's happened this time?_

I pressed the answer button.

"Hey, Emma."

"Taylor." The reply was still somewhat curt; we weren't exactly best friends again, but we were making progress. I liked to think so, anyway. "Are you free?" I glanced at my Inventory, then closed it.

"Yeah. Don't think I have anything on." Weekends were like that, I guessed. Dad was at work, and I should have been doing homework. Except I'd finished it in about ten minutes. "What's up?"

"Can I meet you at my place? I... I think this is something I should say to you in person." I frowned. Emma and I hadn't met for more than a week. We'd texted, sure, but never more than that.

"Should I be worried?"

"Worried? No, no." If anything, _Emma _was the one sounding worried right now. "I just can't really say it over the phone."

"Okay. Should I bring anything."

"Um. No. Just yourself," Emma said. "Safe travels, I guess."

"Yeah. You too." Wait. That was dumb, she was already there. "Bye."

"Bye," Emma replied in a low monotone before hanging up.

_Smooth._

**New Quest: Can't Tell You Over the Phone (Obviously)**

**Get to Emma's house and listen to her so she can tell you something important.**

**Success: + 500 XP, Juicy Information**

**Failure: Well, I guess you miss the good gossip.**

I shook my head at my power's horrible sense of humour. Right now, I had to get over to Emma's.

_Menu._

**Status**

**Inventory**

**Abilities**

**Quests**

**Options**

**Friends**

**Messages**

**Party**

**Bestiary**

_Options._

**Sound**

**Map**

**Recording**

_Map._

**Active Map [OFF]-[ON]**

**Markers [OFF]-[ON]**

**Route [OFF]-[ON]**

A map appeared in the top right corner of my vision, a perfect replication of the streets of Brockton Bay. It had only appeared in the menu after I'd broken LV. 8, but after that I had barely used it. It made me uncomfortable, somewhat, with the way that it could just track people who I'd marked as Friends. Sort of like an invasion of privacy. Sure, that list only included Emma (with whom I was still on shaky ground) and my dad (who literally only ever went to work), but it just felt... wrong, even leaving out the fact that tagging someone as a "Friend" didn't require their consent. But it was useful for navigation and would probably be useful for me later. I eyed the map, confirming that Emma _was _at her house before breaking into a quick jog. These kinds of things were trivial at this point; I had surpassed the point where I had to be concerned when it came to my Stamina. No, this was easy.

It didn't take long to get to Emma's house. Traffic was tame, _people _were tame... nothing to really worry about on the way over. When I got there, she was waiting on the front step, staring blankly at the road in front of her. She didn't even seem to hear my footsteps as I walked towards her.

"Hey, Emma." She snapped out of her dazed state, giving me a small smile.

"Hi, Taylor. Want to head inside?"

"Let's." Emma stood up, opening the door for me. The house was... not the same. Things had been moved; the chairs, the picture frames, one of the cupboards. But it still held that same pristine look which it had always possessed. Everything was polished, cleaned and arranged with a level of perfection which honestly stunned me. It always had, every time I'd come here, no matter how faded that feeling was. Of course, the mood was different, the reasons too. There was a tension which I couldn't really describe underlaying the entire meeting, the short walk from the front of the house to the stairs, and then the climb Emma's room.

We didn't speak a word to each other as we walked, Emma in front and me only a few steps behind. There was no need to, no real pressing desire to communicate. The privilege of enjoying friendly banter was something lost, no longer possible. A bridge we had yet to cross. There was no sound but the soft landing and release of our feet as we walked along polished floorboards to our goal; complete and utter privacy.

Emma twisted the doorknob, before beckoning me inside her room. I looked behind me – no one there – before walking in, Emma closing it behind me.

"So?" I turned to face her, after noting that her room looked like a herd of animals had come in and knocked everything around. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Oh, that." Emma looked down at her feet, shaking a little. Her breathing was sporadic, in and out, in and out, but the pattern was never the same. "Oh, God. I would have thought this would be easier, you know?"

"No," I said bluntly. "I'm honestly just really confused." She stared at me for a few seconds before sighing.

"Oh, Jesus. You remember when you... when you saved me a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah. Of course." I frowned. "Why?"

"I went home that night, and... and I almost killed myself. You remember when I told you that?" I did. We'd been standing on the roof of Winslow, Sophia Hess eavesdropping without either of us being aware of it.

_I don't even go there anymore_.

I nodded in reply, motioning for Emma to continue. I felt like a jerk for mostly ignoring her telling me that she'd almost killed herself, both times that she'd said it, but I wanted to get to the point. I needed to work on having more restraint.

"I told you that the reason why I didn't go through with it was because I didn't want to betray you again." She closed her eyes, pausing briefly before continuing. "That was a lie."

I wasn't as surprised as I would have expected. It made sense, really, and at the same time, it didn't.

"Then why?"

"I tried," she said. "Oh, gosh, I tried. But I must have fainted, and then when I tried again... I just couldn't."

"Couldn't what?"

"I couldn't cut into my skin," she said, staring at me expectantly. "I tried with glass. I tried with a knife. It wouldn't work."

_Oh._

_Oh, god._

"You..."

"Yeah. But probably not in the way you were thinking." She eyed something behind me; I turned and saw nothing out of the ordinary. "I went to sleep that night feeling like shit. I... I woke up and tried to do something, anything which could affect me. And it worked the first time. I grabbed a pen, and I poked myself. I could feel it. But when we'd gotten rid of Sophia? I was in the stall, and I... I saw something. And I tried again." I frowned. She'd seen something...?

_What did you see?_

"I tried to cut myself. I smashed myself against the stalls. Over and over, again and again, but it wouldn't work." She looked behind me again. "And then I saw _them_." I turned, and once again I saw nothing. But then I noticed the distortions. Humanoid outlines, transparent and see through, but blurred at the edges. Each was identical, the same figure, _Emma's _figure.

"They're you," I muttered.

"Yeah," she said. "They look like me, don't they? But they aren't. Not really." She smiled at me. "Whenever they're out, I can't get hurt as easily as normal. If it's something big, like stabbing myself, it'll break through, just a little bit. But a simple cut?" She shrugged. "Nothing. Not even a scratch."

"Holy shit." That was... an incredible power. The sheer potential...

A window popped up, probably the quest completion, but I swiped it away. This was huge.

"Yeah." She grimaced. "But, uh, they're not exactly durable. If you were to hit them, they would... shatter. I'm not sure if they can get stronger, but for now, they're weak."

"How fast can you..."

"How fast can I bring them back after they're destroyed?" After a nod of affirmation, Emma frowned. "Haven't checked. Uh, would you do the honours?" I turned back to the... phantoms. One stepped forward, eventually stopping once it was in front of me. I stood up, pulling back my arm.

"Does it hurt?" I asked.

"When they break? ...No, no. It's fine. Just... punch it. It won't hurt you." I stared at the expressionless face, before swinging my fist at its fragile form. It happened exactly the way she said it would; the phantom shattered like glass, and even though I could barely see it's the rippling distortion in the space it had occupied became more defined, more visible, as the figure fractured into a cloud of fading shards. There was nothing left in its place.

_One._

_Two._

_Three._

_Four. _

_Five._

_Si-_

I heard a sound behind me – I twisted around to see another phantom stepping away from Emma as if it had literally been _one _with her.

"Almost six seconds."

"Yeah. Thanks for that."

"No... no problem."

_And this is where it gets awkward._

I had yet to tell Emma that I had powers. I was certain that she was suspicious on some level but wasn't entirely sure about whether she was right. And she wasn't willing to put our newly formed "friendship" on the line by asking a question which she didn't know the answer to.

I'd considered telling her – I really had. But I didn't her trust her the way I used to, not yet. Even with the help of Observe to easily confirm that she held no ill intentions towards me, it was still something which set off my paranoia. Emma had slipped once. I had no doubt that she could slip again.

But she'd just revealed to me that she was a parahuman. That was probably the biggest secret she had. Well, ever since she'd told me her _other _big secret, but that was irrelevant right now (I mean, as irrelevant as a freaking future court session can be). She was... giving me this information as a sign of trust. That was what this was, that was what she'd been wanting to do when she'd called me just now.

_Oh, god._

Tell her or don't. Not a decision I'd imagined myself making until _after_ we went to court (and hopefully got Sophia Birdcaged) and resolved all that stuff. That wasn't happening for another two weeks, though. Emma had accidentally caused me to consider telling her I had powers weeks before I was planning to.

She could slip; that was true. Slips of the tongue happened every now and then. But if she revealed it intentionally? Well, I knew that she was a parahuman now. Neither of us were going to be telling anyone else without being subjected to the same fate.

_I'm going to regret this._

_And I can't bring myself to care._

"Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"I... I need to tell you something too."

_Oh god._

"You... you aren't the only one who got powers, that night." I watched as her expression shifted gradually from confusion to shock, to understanding, and then horror.

"The locker?" she asked, looking sick.

"Yeah," I replied. "That."

"That's how you recovered so quickly. After you came out. How you... how you got shot but you kept running."

"Yes."

"Oh," she muttered. "Oh, Taylor..."

"Don't apologize. It's... it's actually helped me. I wouldn't have been able to help you all escape without them."

"I know," Emma said. "God, I know. But I've... I've read about powers. About what they do to your head. I... have you noticed anything?"

_Yes. With my Dad._

"I can't feel the same way. Emotionally, I mean. My power restricts that, so that when I'm in danger, I can be nervous, but I can't freeze up. I can't be sad when it really matters. That's... that's why I seem so calm all the time. I can't be anything else."

"That's horrible," Emma said, genuine concern and disgust in her words. Whether the disgust was aimed at me or herself, I wasn't sure. What difference did it make? I'd told her. She knew now.

"Do you mind if I ask what you can do?" she asked.

"Right," I muttered, "yeah. Um, my power makes me a video game character." Emma stared at me. "I'm serious. It gives me quests for XP that make me stronger and everything. Like, everything has a level. _Everything_."

"I'm confused," Emma said, "your power lets you... level yourself up."

"Well, yes. Yes, they do."

"Just you? You said that everything has a level."

"Yeah. Yeah, you, Sophia, people I pass on the street."

"What..." Emma bit her bottom lip, "what level am I?"

It only took a few seconds. I glanced at the profile Observe provided me and frowned. Her Max HP had been 100 the first time I'd used Observe on her. Now it was 130. She'd levelled up three times since I'd last observed her.

"Four," I said, "if the pattern is the same as mine. It doesn't tell me peoples' levels – not yet, anyways."

"What doesn't?"

"Sorry?"

"What doesn't tell you peoples' levels?"

"Oh. Observe; it's an ability. It lets me gather information from people and... things."

"Things?"

"Objects."

"Oh. I see. What else does your power let you do?"

"I... I have an interface – I guess that's what you'd call it. It tells me how powerful I am, gives me the option to improve my strength in certain things, and all the usual stuff video games do."

"I don't play video games," Emma stated bluntly. "I honestly have no clue what the "usual stuff" is."

"Um. I have... a full menu. Let me just read it off... Status, Inventory, Abilities, Options, Quests, Friends, Messages, Party, Bestiary." Emma frowned.

"You have a Friend List?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do. Well, it's less a Friend List and more a People I Want to Track List."

"Who's on that?"

"The list?"

"Yes."

"Um, just you and my dad."

"You need to track me?" I stopped. "Really Taylor?"

"Not really," I said. "I didn't even realise that it would start tracking you after I added you to the list. I just... assumed that it wouldn't do anything too bad."

"I didn't get a request," Emma said in confusion.

"Yeah, that confused me too," I admitted. "I assumed it would, but it just... put you there."

"Interesting," Emma muttered. "You said that you could send messages?"

"Yeah." I opened Messages.

**Chats:**

**-Empty-**

**Create New Chat? (Y/N)**

"Want me to send you a message?" I asked her. Emma shrugged in response – that was good enough for me.

**Create New Chat:**

**Add Chat Members**

**-Daniel Hebert**

**-Emma Barnes**

…

**Emma Barnes added to "New Chat".**

Emma blinked as an enormous blue panel popped up in front of her. I couldn't read it from where I was, but I assumed that it was a notification letting her know that she was in the chat.

"What the fuck?" she said. "What the fucking fuck?" She looked at me. "This is insane."

"...I know," I said as I inspected the chat for myself.

**New Chat**

**Taylor: Hi.**

"Wow," Emma said. "This looks, like, really useful. Do you think there's a range on this thing?"

"I doubt it," I said. "Wouldn't really be a point to it if the range was shit."

"True." Emma reached towards the panel. "Do you mind if..."

"Go ahead." I watched as a reply popped up on my panel.

**New Chat**

**Emma: Hi.**

"Yeah, this is awesome," Emma grinned. "Anything else we could use this for?"

"Um..." I checked my Menu. "There's an option called Party."

"Try it."

**Create New Party:**

**Name Party: [Party Name]**

"What should I name the Party?"

"Hm?"

"The Party. I have to give it a name."

"Oh. Hm. Can you name it something else later?"

"Probably."

"Just leave it blank then."

"Sure thing."

**New Party**

**Add Party Members:**

**-Daniel Hebert**

**-Emma Barnes**

…

**Emma Barnes has been invited to join "New Party".**

Another panel popped up in front of Emma, presumably the invitation. She tapped another button without hesitation.

**Emma Barnes has joined "New Party".**

At first, nothing seemed to happen, apart from the appearance of Emma's HP, Stamina, and MP below my own. And then Emma started shrieking.

"Why the fuck is my Charisma only 3?!"

**I promised an explanation. Well, here goes.**

**Taylor refuses to implicate Emma in **_**anything**_**. Emma is, however, backing up Taylor on her claims that Madison and Sophia were bullying her. Sophia's awaiting trial; Taylor and Emma are 999% sure that no matter what happens, Sophia will go to prison/juvie, and even more likely, she'll get railroaded and sent to the Birdcage. Taylor couldn't give two fucks if she tried, and Emma feels very little regret. As for Madison? Well, same for her, except she won't be going to the Birdcage. **

**Hope this explains things.**

**Like, I don't know how the legal stuff in America works, because I live in Melbourne, but frick if I actually care. This is a fanfic guys, chill. :)**


	8. Restart 2-2

**Decided to just use Skill Books as… Skill Books.**

**For anyone who's curious, the Scrap Snapper and Scrap Spinner enemies appearing in this chapter come from Scott Cawthon's "The Desolate Room", which I'm going to continue using for enemies and Skills. "Virus Slash" also comes from the game, although in the game it's called "Virus Bite". I changed it, because otherwise every time Taylor uses it, I'm going to imagine her biting someone.**

**Hope you enjoy – this one's pretty much just a fight scene and establishing some things about my take on the Gamer power, but, yeah, just enjoy it, folks. **

**Don't look to deep into it – honestly, a lot of this was just me not wanting to make super OP Instant Dungeons, so instead, you get the Difficulty Settings, which still have risks.**

**Restart 2.2**

"It's like a pocket dimension, I think," I told Emma. "I can't imagine that it would allow people outside of the system to get hurt." Emma looked doubtful, but then again, she almost always did. Powers rarely seemed to make sense, especially strange ones like mine.

"You really think that?" she asked. "For all we know, you flip that switch, and an Endbringer appears right here in front of us." I winced.

"Emma…"

"Oh, whoops," she muttered, both shameful and embarrassed. "I slip, sometimes."

"It's fine," I muttered. "Besides, I can't blame you. You might be right. But, well, we're in a scrapyard, Emma. I don't think one of... _them _is going to just pop up here because I flicked a switch."

"But who knows, right?" Emma grumbled, looking around. The scrapyard was, luckily, completely unoccupied, if one didn't count the rats. "Honestly, you may as well do it, at this point." I frowned.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving me off. "Get it over with." I sighed, before opening the new section in my Options Menu, having appeared the moment I broke LV 10.

**Difficulty Settings**

**[Easy]**

"What should I set it to?" I asked Emma. She frowned, pondering her decision.

"Uh, the next highest one?" she suggested. "What's it on right now?"

"Easy."

"Then try Medium."

**Difficulty Settings**

**[Easy]-****[Medium]**

**Enemy Mobs at Rarity Common/Uncommon/Rare will now spawn automatically. This ignores any already existing Mini-Bosses or Bosses.**

"Um," I said. Shit, this was bad. The system wasn't indicating that we had transferred to any sort of pocket dimension. Maybe it just couldn't be bothered sending a message? "Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"It's not saying that we entered a protected space or anything." I stared at the window, the information refusing to change.

**Enemy Mobs at 1-100% of your LV and Rarity Common/Uncommon/Rare will now spawn automatically. This ignores any already existing Mini-Bosses or Bosses.**

"Shit." Emma glanced back in the direction of the road, her gaze hardening. "I'll go check." She sprinted back between the piles of scrap, as I went back to the window. Everything about the power so far had suggested that it wouldn't harm anyone unless they were part of the system. If the enemies were created by the system, then they wouldn't harm random people, would they?

But Sophia had been part of the system too – or at least the system had recognized her as a part of it. Because she had attacked me, and she was instantly classified as an enemy. If the people tried to run, or attacked the mobs, would they be recognized as part of the system?

"Taylor!" I twisted my head back to the road – Emma was running back, weaving between the piles of scrap. "Change it back to Easy! The people are still here!"

"On it!" I called back before trying to change the difficulty. I stared at the message that popped up instead.

**Difficulty cannot be changed while in Active Combat.**

"Fuck." Active Combat? The hell was Active Combat? It was just me and Emma here, wasn't it? But then again, it did say it was going to start spawning enemies automatically. Did that mean…

Behind the window, I heard a loud clang, metal against metal. I closed the window instantly, the blue cutting away to reveal… something. Some sort of robot, that was for sure. But it was covered in grime and rust, parts of it scratched and dented. It bore resemblance to a bird – its head was certainly shaped like an avian one, but its structure was also similar to that of a reptile, razor sharp teeth poking out from the top and bottom jaw, which constantly clashed against each other. Two glowing red eyes glared back at me, as a miniature satellite antenna swirled around on the creature's back. It walked on two feet, each one sporting enormous claws to the front and side.

_Observe._

**Scrap Snapper**

**ATK: 7**

**HP: 110/110**

**Armor 7**

**SPD: 8**

**A mechanical predator which preys upon those it deems to be vulnerable.**

"Taylor? Have you switched it off yet?" Emma asked as she walked to my side.

"Sh." I pointed at the Scrap Snapper, eyeing it warily. "I can't change Difficulty Settings while we're in Active Combat."

"Active Combat?" She looked at the Scrap Snapper, freezing momentarily. I knew that when I had observed the Scrap Snapper, it has created a small label over its head detailing its name and stats – this thing was an actual potential threat towards her.

"We've got to deal with it somehow," I said. "It's not doing anything. Not yet."

"It's just… staring," Emma muttered. "Should we just attack it?" I watched the Scrap Snapper's jaw go limp, hanging open for a single second before snapping shut again.

"No," I said. "Just… start sending out your projections."

"On it." I heard the first phase into existence, then the second. All the way until there were five of them, standing behind us in a semicircle formation. The Scrap Snapper continued to observe us, its jaw continuing to seize and the antenna spinning round and round. The creature took a small step forward, pronounced by a loud clank.

All at once, we charged, Emma's projections by far the fastest of us. The Scrap Snapper barely even registered their presence, dashing through them as if they were nothing. I rushed in and kicked it from under the bottom jaw, the machine falling backwards. Its legs began to twist at impossible, inhuman angles, one clawed foot planting itself in the dirt as the rest of the body pivoted around the first leg segment, the other foot scratching against my arm as the creature swiveled itself around again.

The Scrap Snapper snarled as Emma punched it in the left eye, sparks flying as it jumped backwards, flimsy legs taking the strain. It began to circle us steadily, legs beginning to twitch at random intervals. It took me a moment realize that it was stalling, probably waiting for backup.

"Don't let it stall," I told her. "It's waiting for something." Emma nodded, rushing forwards even as her projections melted off her body, hanging back as I headed after her. If they were out, the Scrap Snapper would be almost useless against her. Emma aimed a kick at the creature's head – it rotated around on its leg, catching her foot with its claw and completing the revolution. Emma was thrown towards a pile of scrap, just as I managed to grab the robot's leg and swing it towards the ground. The Scrap Snapper contorted itself around my arm, so that its side only just glanced against the earth. I punched it in the eye again – the robot let out a horrific screech, hurting my ears so badly that I let go of it. That wasn't enough for me to just let it retreat; my hand was already reaching for it as it tore away, feet padding loudly against the earth, jaw hanging loosely as it headed for the other side of the cleared area in the scrapyard. Emma was climbing out of the pile she'd been thrown into, her hair disheveled and her clothes more wrinkled, but apart from that she seemed fine – we hadn't realized that the immunity to damage her clone's gave her also extended to whatever was in contact with her skin, until we'd gone through some largescale tests.

I looked back at the Scrap Snapper, at the way it walked. Jerkily, as if it couldn't control its body as well as it had. The reptilian robot's eyes flickered between the two of us, before going to the unmoving projections, mere distortions in the air.

I started dashing before it did, ready to destroy it before it managed to rip through the projections. The Scrap Snapper wasn't as fast as me, but it wasn't much slower either. And it was closer than I was. It charged towards the projections, which seemed to be grouping up together, almost… merging. Mere meters away, the Scrap Snapper leapt at the projections, biting down on an invisible arm. And it stayed there, hovering in the air. I felt myself stop running, just staring at the robot hovering there, the projections, once vulnerable when separated, now merged into something more powerful. The new projection, the product of the other five, threw the Scrap Snapper to the grounds. The lower jaw was bent beyond repair, as the creature tried to drag itself away. But I was waiting, my foot raised and ready to crush down on its head.

The Scrap Snapper jolted, screeching as my foot impacted on its eye, the bright red light dimming, the lens shattering. The robot struggled, jolting left and right like it was… sentient. As if it was truly desperate. I could still see the camera in its eye – only barely, but it was enough. It was darting around aimlessly, like a person cornered. The kind that did stupid, desperate things.

The Scrap Snapper kept struggling, its jaw snapping repetitively, only serving to further dent the already damaged structure. It was slowing down, oil beginning to spurt from the openings in the metal. The creature let out a final dying screech, and then it stopped altogether. The eyes went black, its antenna ceasing to spin.

**Congratulations!**

**Your party has defeated Scrap Snapper!**

**Your party has received the following rewards:**

**-90 XP**

**-$30**

**-Iron Ingot (x1)**

**-Scrap Snapper Tooth (x3)**

**XP and $ will be split evenly between party members, while resources will be placed in the shared Party Inventory.**

"Holy shit," Emma said as I removed my foot from its face. The Scrap Snapper was unmoving, completely still. It reminded me of a broken toy, thrown out and rejected. It looked sad, even. A blue light was beginning to envelop it – it was subtle, in a way that I didn't even notice until the creature's entire body was being absorbed by blue light. I watched, mesmerized, as the body was completely engulfed in the light, before apparently just phasing out of existence.

"The system took it back," I muttered.

"Seems like it," Emma agreed. "Do you think this is going to become a regular thing? This power of yours just… pulls shit like this?"

"Maybe. It keeps surprising me, pulling out random things whenever I'm not expecting it." I opened my window, trying to change the Difficulty.

**Difficulty cannot be changed while in Active Combat.**

"Oh. Crap," I muttered. "There's another enemy here."

"Worse," Emma replied. "_More_ than one."

"Fuck." I closed my window and was greeted by the sight of another two Scrap Snappers, and a third mechanical creature between them. The first thing I noticed was the way the body kept spinning – a tower of glowing red eyeballs, all coiled together and constantly turning and bobbing up and down, bouncing upon four spiderlike legs. A single blinking antenna poked out from the top of its head, which I doubted to be just for cosmetic decoration.

"Oh, fucking hell. More of these things?" Emma muttered, glaring hatefully at the two Scrap Snappers as they descended from the hood of the car on which they were perched. The third creature remained atop the roof, every eye turning to stare at us for as long as possible each time it made its rotation. The creatures scuttled off the roof, leading the charge towards us as its antenna's blinking began to grow faster.

_Observe._

**Scrap Spinner**

**ATK: 9**

**HP: 185/185**

**Armor: 11**

**SPD: 9**

**A mechanical menace usually sighted either alone, or in numbers of 5-7. They are extremely effective as a group and are willing to attempt to take down creatures much larger than themselves.**

"We need to get rid of the spider one," I told Emma hurriedly, "I think it can attract more enemies."

"It brings _more _of those things?!" she exclaimed. "For fuck's sake, I wanted to get back in time for lunch." The Scrap Spinner was absurdly fast, its spider legs propelling it along the ground with a cruel, ruthless forcefulness the Snapper had lacked. Its legs mere blurs, the robot bounced off the ground, legs snapping into lines lying horizontal with its body and proceeding to spin like a throwing star. I dodged to the side as it struck the ground, kicking up brown dirt and dust in its wake. The Snappers were following right behind, legs primed and ready to pounce. Emma began to spread her projections out, splitting apart the greater, more powerful one, in favor of more contingencies.

One of the Scrap Snappers was already leaping, the other advancing on foot. The airborne predator was knocked back by a single punch, but the other was quicker on its feet, moving around to my backside. It pounced at me as I darted off to the side, feeling the raking of its claws against my arm as one of its legs twisted unnaturally to score a blow. I checked my HP, cursing vehemently.

**HP: 133/190 (REG 4.75 HP/min)**

I wasn't low, not really, but much of that damage had come from the first fight, some of it likely from when it had struggled against my foot, sharp metal jabbing into me. I couldn't afford to take much damage in this fight.

The two Snappers were circling me, the way vultures circled a corpse. One of them clacked its head to the side, as if imitating a chicken. The other let out a noise which could have been a laugh, but sounded more like a guttural, screeching groan. The first widened its mouth, teeth coated in a bright green light. I was moving before it even began to tense – I wasn't going to risk finding out what that was. The Scrap Snapper leapt at me, and I ducked down, allowing it to pass over me. I grabbed its foot as it landed, tossing it in the rough direction of the other Snapper. I caught a glimpse of the other robot jumping over its comrade's body, before I rushed off to help Emma.

She was wrestling with the Spinner, two of its legs wrapped around her torso, and the remaining two stabbing at her face while she held them back with her hands. She shouted something at it, and the Scrap Spinner promptly replied by releasing her torso and twisting its body around, so that the legs could wrap around her head. The attack shocked her enough that she loosened her grip on the other two legs, allowing them to join the first pair in latching onto her head.

The Spinner must have seen me coming, because it began to loosen its grip on her head, but not before I managed to punch it off. The robot flailed, legs snapping to its sides before it began to roll along the floor. I chased after it, smashing my foot down and barely managing to miss it. It sprung up from the ground, burying a single leg into the ground and pivoting around on it to slice at me. I backed away, the legs passing through empty air.

**Dodge is LV. 2!**

The Scrap Snappers had caught up – well, one of them had, the other was still a few meters behind. Emma went to take care of the one lagging behind – I kicked at the incoming Snapper, but the robot bounded to the side, before propelling itself through the air towards me. I grabbed it in midair, holding it away from my body even as it twisted its legs to latch onto my shoulders. I tore the Snapper away as the Spinner tackled me in the leg, sending me flopping back onto the ground. The Snapper's claws raked against my back as I rolled away and got up, the Spinner seemingly ready to pounce again. I kicked the Snapper away as the Spinner advanced, scuttling menacingly as its eyes narrowed. The legs began to glow green, as the Scrap Snapper's teeth had.

I backed away as the Spinner propped itself onto its side, legs snapping out as it began to roll forwards like some sort of wheel or circular sawblade, cutting into the earth was it moved forwards. It was moving faster, too – like it had been building up energy, and here it was, unleashing it now. The glowing legs slashed at me, and a new status effect appeared.

**Virus (-5 HP/min): 3:00**

As the timer began to tick downwards, I cursed on the inside. My HP was…

**HP: 91/190 (REG 4.75 HP/min) (Mod REG -0.25 HP/min)**

Okay. That. It wasn't too bad – in fact, it was actually pretty good, when one considered that when coupled with my HP REG, it was only 1 HP every 4 minutes. But there was no way that this was that simple. It had to have something else to it.

**Congratulations!**

**Your party has defeated Scrap Snapper!**

**Your party has received the following rewards:**

**-90 XP**

**-$20**

**-Iron Ingot (x4)**

**-Scrap Snapper Tooth (x3)**

**-Camera Lens (x1)**

**XP and $ will be split evenly between party members, while resources will be placed in the shared Party Inventory.**

I twisted my head towards Emma, who was standing over a dead Scrap Snapper, her enormous projection standing next to her. She gave me a small shrug.

"Come help me!" I shrieked, as the Scrap Snapper latched onto my arm, teeth glowing green.

**Virus (-10 HP/min): 3:00**

Shit. Virus hadn't just reset its timer – it had stacked, and now I was losing 5.25 HP/min. That was much, _much _worse.

Emma's projection dashed towards us, as I ripped off the Scrap Snapper and narrowly avoided another slash from the Spinner. The projection reached us, kicking the Scrap Snapper to the side, its head denting against the hood of a car.

**Congratulations!**

**Your party has defeated Scrap Snapper!**

**Your party has received the following rewards:**

**-90 XP**

**-$22**

**-Iron Ingot (x3)**

**-Antenna Fragment (x1)**

**-Scrap Snapper Tooth (x6)**

**XP and $ will be split evenly between party members, while resources will be placed in the shared Party Inventory.**

The Scrap Spinner danced in between its legs, only for Emma to punch it back. I darted forward, grabbing one of the robot's legs and smashing its body into the ground. The eyes flickered, before going out, one by one.

**Congratulations!**

**Your party has defeated Scrap Spinner!**

**Your party has received the following rewards:**

**-120 XP**

**-$30**

**-Iron Ingot (x4)**

**-Mechanical Spider Leg (x1)**

**-Skill Book: Virus Slash**

**XP and $ will be split evenly between party members, while resources will be placed in the shared Party Inventory.**

I didn't waste any time – the moment I received the message, I was into my menu, switching the Difficulty.

**Difficulty Settings**

**[Medium]-****[Easy]**

**Enemies will no longer spawn automatically.**

"Oh," I said, allowing myself to sit down as I eyes my HP.

**HP: 71/190 (REG 4.75 HP/min) (Mod REG -5.25 HP/min)**

Not too low. The Virus effect would run dry soon, and then I would start my regular REG again.

"That was…" Emma began.

"Terrifying?" I supplied.

"At first," she agreed. "But after we killed the first one, I… I felt satisfied. I wanted more."

"Yeah," I muttered. "I'm honestly just glad that I misinterpreted the Scrap Spinner's description. If it had called in more enemies–"

"Things wouldn't have ended well," Emma finished. "I know. I'm pretty much fucked for MP right now. Using projections up really drains on me."

"I'm alright, actually," I said. "But… they were dropping things, weren't they?"

"Oh, yeah," Emma said, perking up. The system said they were in the… Party Inventory?"

"Yeah. I'm going to check."

**Status**

**Inventory**

**Abilities**

**Quests**

**Options**

**Friends**

**Messages**

**Party**

**Bestiary**

_Party._

**Active Parties:**

**-Super Legit Heroes**

"Emma."

"Yeah?"

"You renamed the Party."

"…Yes?"

"For fuck's sake," I muttered.

**Super Legit Heroes**

**Members:**

**-Taylor Hebert**

**-Emma Barnes**

**Shared Party Inventory**

_Shared Party Inventory_

**-Iron Ingot (x12)**

**-Scrap Snapper Tooth (x12)**

**-Camera Lens (x1)**

**-Antenna Fragment (x1)**

**-Mechanical Spider Leg (x1)**

**-Skill Book: Virus Slash**

The rest of the items were… nice. Probably extremely useful, even. But in that moment, I was more interested in the… the Skill Book. Was Virus Slash what the Scrap mobs had been using against me, to give me Virus? Because if so, that could be extremely useful.

"There's a… Skill Book," I told Emma. "It's called Virus Slash."

"The hell is a Skill Book?"

"I guess it gives me skills." I reached into the Inventory, withdrawing it from the grid. The book was black, with a grid of green, crisscrossing lines. A large green slash mark was on the bottom half of the cover, while the top half simply read "Virus Slash". Upon checking the back of the book, I found nothing but the same gridline pattern.

"Well, open it," Emma demanded. "You've been staring at it for, like, thirty seconds."

"Just checking," I muttered, before flicking to the first page. A message popped up in front of me.

**Would you like to learn Special Skill: Virus Slash? (Y/N)**

"Oh," I said. "_Oh_. That's… nice."

"What is it?" Emma asked.

"It's asking if I want to learn… _Virus Slash_."

"Um. You _do_ want to learn it, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then… learn it," she said, clearly getting impatient. I sighed pressing the Yes option, expecting the window to close and the book to become available to read. Instead, it started glowing blue and dissolved in my hands.

"Ah. Should have expected that," I muttered. "Fucking video game power."

"Well, do you have the Skill?" Emma asked.

"Um, let me check," I said, opening the Abilities section in the Menu.

**Special Skill: Virus Slash LV. 1 (0%)**

**20 MP**

**10-15 Ranged DMG**

**Inflicts Virus on enemies for 10 seconds.**

"Yeah," I said, my mind already racing. An actual Ranged, MP based move. Not only did the stat now have a purpose, I could attack at range! And if these enemies had dropped a Skill Book, then…

"We're going to do this again, sometime soon," I announced. Emma seemed hesitant, as she glanced back in the direction of the street. "We'll find another place," I assured her. "Some place nowhere near any people."

"Okay," she said. The agreement had seemed somewhat reluctant, until I had seen the look on her face. The yearning.

"We'll grow stronger," I told her. "We'll level, we'll train, I'll find more Skill Books. We're… we're going to do this."

"We're going to be heroes?"

"Yeah," I smiled at her. "Yeah, we are."

"As long as I still get to be Echo."

"You're the one with the master power – go ahead."

"Yeah. Yeah, fuck it." Emma grinned at me. "Let's do it."


	9. Restart 2-3

**Dear Guest (and everyone else who's thinking this lol),**

**Congratulations on finding out that this fic has devolved into trashy bullshit.**

**Except, well, joke's on you, especially since I've pretty much started taking the piss out of things on purpose. I mean, in the last chapter, Taylor and Emma were fighting robots with their hands, and didn't even comment on how weird it was.**

**I hope you live a long, prosperous life of leaving useless reviews which do nothing which fill the people you're trying to insult with nothing but pure, unadulterated joy.**

**Sincerely,**

**Tgonthefiery**

**I decided to change up my original plans – originally, Taylor eventually abandons Emma after realizing that she hasn't changed at all, but then I realized that doing that would ruin the spirit of the entire thing: a fic which was enjoyable but also made absolutely no sense whatsoever. I don't know if this is enjoyable, but I do know that it makes no sense whatsoever. (Seriously, I don't know if you guys notice the shit these people do, but in retrospect it can make zero common sense.) And I aim to continue this trend. Because, once again, this is no longer something I see going very far. I'm currently working on an original story with a friend, and if that goes anywhere? Well, we shall see.**

**Also, I decided that I don't want Perks anymore. Seriously, I can't be bothered to do any more math for this fic than is absolutely necessary. So please ignore all the mentions of PP in the previous chapters.**

**Random reference to Ancient Egyptian mythology which barely counts as a reference, in here. Just saying.**

**Also, Taylor makes lasagna. My mind is so bogged down by fanon that I can't remember if her mom actually made her lasagna or not, but please, just accept it. Remember what this fic is supposed to be. **

**Restart 2.3**

I wasn't sure when I'd started to consider Emma as a friend again. It definitely hadn't been when I'd found her in the back of the ABB truck. Nor the day we'd kicked Sophia's ass. Perhaps it was when she'd revealed her power to me. To expose that, to someone who had every right to hate her, despise her? That took trust. Trust which might have been misplaced, at least at first.

_In._

_Out._

Emma had always been too trusting, too willing to latch onto someone she'd never met, take the word of any random person on the street. In a way, it had been a good quality, at first. Sophia had ruined that too. Sophia Hess had ruined a lot of things. My friendship with Emma. My school life. My perception of the local heroes. Because if they could let someone like _her _into their ranks and treat it like it was nothing, what else were they willing to do?

_In._

_Out._

A lot, probably. The ends justify the means, and all of that crap. I could imagine them spouting lines of pretty words at the crowds, as they probably made shady deals to satisfy the gangs in the city, or whatever else was needed to keep the peace. The worst part was that I couldn't even blame them for what they were probably doing. For letting Sophia into their ranks. Now, _keeping _her there, _that _I could blame them for. But the rest? No. That was just human.

_In._

_Out._

How many times had I done something questionable because I'd reasoned to myself that it would be worth it in the end? Probably a couple, maybe more which I couldn't remember. As much as I hated the idea, it was unfortunately true, and that meant that blaming others for doing the same things as I did was stupid in of itself.

_In._

_Out._

I opened my eyes, smiling when I saw the screen in front of me.

**Meditation is LV. 3!**

Meditation took time to level up – a _long_ time. But I supposed that it would be worth it in the long run, considering that my HP and MP REG would be boosted by 10% per LV whenever I was meditating. That meant that I would be able to level up any MP based Skills much more efficiently – not that I'd even started. I hadn't bothered to try using Virus Slash yet, considering that it was probably extremely loud.

I allowed myself to relax, flopping back on my bed. But not sleeping – there was no point in sleeping now.  
_Options._

**Sound**

**Map**

**Recording**

_Sound._

**Volume: - 5 -**

**Current Track (Auto):**

**Bedroom**

**Change Track?**

_Change Track._

**No Tracks Available**

**Unlock Tracks by completing Quests and Achievements**

"Crap," I swore half-heartedly. Stupid system kept giving me hope, and then sending me back down in the dumps. I narrowed my eyes. "Wait." Achievements? When had Achievements ever been a thing?

**Achievements Menu can be viewed after completing 15 Quests. Any Achievements completed without knowledge or view of Achievements Menu will still give rewards.**

And how many Quests had I already done, exactly?

**14/15 Quests completed.**

"Are you fucking with me?" I deadpanned. "This better be a joke."

**14/15 Quests completed.**

"Dammit." I rolled over in bed, stuffing my face into my pillow. _This _was why I hated my power, sometimes. It had the most irritating way of getting information across – making you find it yourself.

"Well, shit," I muttered. "Stuff to do. Something to do. Something Quest material." I checked the time; 5:00 PM. Could I make dinner, maybe?

**Quest: Make Dinner!**

**Go downstairs and… make food. Maybe eat it.**

**Success: + 75 XP, A meal (Unless you botch it)**

**Failure: Your dad makes dinner. That's… not that bad.**

What?

No, no. Screw the failure option. I was making dinner, alright. I walked quickly down the stairs, accidentally tripping over on the last step and stumbling into a wall, as I tried to figure out what my dad would appreciate the most for dinner.

**(T)**

"This is wonderful," Dad said, in a way which made me wonder if he was actually serious. For all I knew, it was horrible.

"Thanks," I replied half-heartedly as I bit into the lasagna, fairly certain that it was completely average in every way. "Uh, which part?" Dad didn't reply; he just kept eating, staring wistfully as his plate.

_Ah._

_That makes sense._

It was Mom, wasn't it? It was always Mom, it always came back to her somehow. She'd made lasagna for us, when she was still… around. It had been delicious, and while I _was _using Mom's recipe, I was pretty sure that it was nowhere near as good as hers. Maybe Dad was just being wrapped up in good memories. Or I'd accidentally started to make him feel those feelings of loss again.

Fuck.

"So. Um, what did you do today?" he asked suddenly, once he had swallowed his food. "Anything interesting?"

"Eh." I shrugged. "I hung out with Emma."

"And how was that?" Another shrug.

"Alright." I gave him my best smile. "Same as usual. What about you?"

"Ah," he muttered. "Today was… relatively normal."

"Relatively?" I asked.

"Not sure how else to put it." He took another bite of his lasagna, face furrowing. He swallowed, then spoke. "You remember Gerry?"

"Vaguely," I replied. I didn't remember Gerry at all. Thankfully, Dad either must have expected that, or something in my expression gave it away.

"Eh, big, burly guy. Black Irish. You probably met him when you visited me at work?" I nodded at him – I did remember someone like that. "Well, I'm fairly certain that's he's going to be quitting on me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've got word that he's… looking for another job. Something… less than legal." I consciously leaned in closer.

"Oh?"

"Mm. You know Uber and Leet?" I snorted.

"He wants to be a _henchman_?"

"That's what I've heard," he replied. "None of it's set in stone, but…"

"Things are shitty."

"Yeah. That. Worst thing is, it wouldn't be the first time."

"Yeah. That's rough." I frowned, then leaned in closer. "Jeez Dad, it's getting cold. Don't let it freeze over."

The rest of dinner was carried out in blissful silence, apart from the occasional car passing by, and me and Dad's cutlery scraping on the plates. I occupied myself by looking through my Achievements menu, which was… depressingly empty.

**Achievements**

**Completed: 0**

**Just Getting Started**

**-Create your own hero team**

**Rewards:**

**-5000 XP**

**-$500**

**-Additional Party Slots: 2**

**Mutual Benefit**

**-Create a partnership with the Protectorate**

**Rewards:**

**-7500 XP**

**-$750**

**Fucking Nazis**

**-Defeat 100 E88 Thugs**

**Rewards:**

**-10,000 XP**

**-$500**

**Emperor's Crown**

**-Defeat Kaiser**

**Rewards:**

**-15,000 XP**

**-$1000**

**-Skill Book: Silver Spear**

**Azn Bruzd Boyz**

**-Defeat 100 ABB Thugs**

**Rewards:**

**-10,000 XP**

**-$500**

**Dragon Slayer**

**-Defeat Lung**

**Rewards:**

**-25,000 XP**

**-$1500**

**-Skill Book: Fireball**

**-Skill Book: Summon Drake**

**Merchant Overdose**

**-Defeat 100 Merchant Thugs**

**Rewards:**

**-10,000 XP**

**-$500**

**Stain of Honor**

**-Defeat Skidmark**

**Rewards:**

**-12,500 XP**

**-$750**

**-Skill Book: Repel**

**Clean Up the Bay**

**-Eliminate all criminal gangs within Brockton Bay**

**Rewards:**

**-35,000 XP**

**-$2000**

**Lightning Rod**

**-Fend off Behemoth**

**Rewards:**

**-100,000 XP**

**-$20,000**

**-Skill Book: ?**

**The Fall**

**-Defeat Behemoth**

**Rewards:**

**-500,000 XP**

**-$100,000**

**-Skill Book: ?**

**Storm Warning**

**-Fend off Leviathan**

**Rewards:**

**-100,000 XP**

**-$20,000**

**-Skill Book: ?**

**Tide Changer**

**-Defeat Leviathan**

**Rewards:**

**-500,000 XP**

**-$100,000**

**-Skill Book: ?**

**Song of the Nightingale**

**-Fend off the Simurgh**

**Rewards:**

**-100,000 XP**

**-$20,000**

**-Skill Book: ?**

**Dying Song**

**-Defeat the Simurgh**

**Rewards:**

**-500,000 XP**

**-$100,000**

**-Skill Book: ?**

**More Achievements coming soon!**

Ha. Ha, ha, ha.

Well played, stupid power. I was only close to completing _one _of these, and I was pretty sure that it wouldn't count me and Emma making a pact in a dilapidated scrapyard as us forming a hero team. Seriously, what was with all this? Defeat 100 Thugs? Eliminate all gangs? Fight _Lung _and _win_? And, I'm sorry, did this thing _actually _expect me to be able to defeat goddamned _Endbringers_?

Well, maybe it didn't, considering half of the… Endbringer Achievements were only saying to "fend off" their respective tyrannical monster. But then again, the other half were… yeah.

I wasn't going to be completing any of these Achievements soon.

Later, as I washed the dishes (and oh hey, a new skill!), I couldn't help but wonder if these… Achievements, as they were called, would begin to blind me. Make me take a path I wouldn't have otherwise. The goals they outlined weren't just lofty and ambitious, I was fairly certain that some of them were impossible. _No one _had ever killed an Endbringer. That wasn't a thing that _happened_. They'd lost limbs, been heavily damaged, but they'd always managed to retreat, some way or another, usually by cleaving their way through the defending forces and causing even _more _damage. Behemoth? He'd sooner dig into the ground than allow himself to be killed, from what I knew. Leviathan? A single tidal wave crashing over the city, and no one would even notice him leaving amongst the dozens of floating corpses. The Simurgh? Ha. Most people couldn't even get close enough to deal real damage without sacrificing their life.

Also, defeating _Lung_? Even that alone would be _more _than challenging. He got _stronger _the longer he fought – how was I supposed to beat that? How was I even meant to _survive _that?

'Teamwork, duh,' was the extremely obvious and irritating answer which came to me. Of course, that also meant that any teammates I had would _also _be put at risk. That wasn't something I particularly wanted or needed. I would have to think over this carefully, if anything. I didn't currently have any Quests, but I was probably going to receive one or two tomorrow. Achievements could wait for when I was ready. Well, for when _we _were ready. I thought of Emma, of the enormous projection standing over her. Beating things into the ground.

Yeah. We.

I placed the last dish on the drying rack, dried my hands with the hand towel hanging near the sink. I could think this over in the morning.

**(T)**

"Seriously?" I muttered as Emma smirked at me from across the lunch table. I was relying on the constant bustle of students around us to drown out any possibility of someone overhearing. There was still a risk, and that was a concern, but Emma refused to go back to the roof, treating it like it was the plague or something. "You want me to go swimming. In the bay."

"Can't be that bad." She shrugged, biting into her sandwich (because cafeteria food was shit). "Besides, this'll be good for you, won't it?"

"Explanation, please," I said. I wasn't exactly _against _her idea. I just had no idea where she was even coming from with this.

"Okay," she said, leaning in closer. "Well, ignoring the fact that swimming's a thing that'll probably be levelled up, I was thinking, you had something called Heat Resistance, right?"

"Um. Yes."

"The bay is cold. You get me?"

"Ah." I nodded. If there was a Heat Resistance, it was hard to believe that there wouldn't be a Cold Resistance. "I get you."

"Okay. So. Not only that, but it'll probably help you breathe better. And… well. You remember the Difficulty Settings."

"Oh." I smiled. That was kind of clever. "It's an isolated spot. If I change the Settings…"

"Shouldn't put anyone in harm's way," Emma finished. "Well, it works. Right?"

"Yeah." I frowned. "And you?"

"Me? Oh, don't worry about that. I didn't come up with this without at least doing some testing." I stared at her in confusion, before I closed my eyes.

"Fucking hell, Emma."

"What?" she said.

"You tried to drown yourself, didn't you?" I asked, trying not to sound too judgmental.

"I was pretty sure it wasn't going to work," Emma grumbled back, before stuffing her mouth with bread again.

"You were _pretty _sure."

"Mmphhm."

"Okay. Okay- oh, goddammit." I slammed my head against the table, hard enough that I lost a hitpoint for it. "You're going to be the death of me." I got the impression that Emma was probably gazing at me innocently, but I refused to look up. Nope. I wasn't letting her get to me.

"Well, can we at least try it?" she asked. "I think it'll work. Even if the enemies end up being too difficult, we can pull out at any time. Just, level up your swimming first? Everything which might be useful down there – I think it'll be more about speed than maneuverability down there."

"Dodging's always important."

"And you need speed to dodge," Emma pointed out. "If I travel within my projections, I can get tugged along with them, so the water doesn't really affect me much. You? You _need _to be fast. Besides, I literally can't drown as long as my projections are out." Unfortunately, if Emma _did _understand her power correctly, then she had more of an advantage than I did when underwater. If we really did end up training underwater, defeating mobs and the like, I was going to have to train myself up first.

"I'll… go swimming," I muttered. "Tonight. Experiment and all of that."

"You do that," she said happily, before cheerily finishing off her sandwich. "Meanwhile, I'm going to keep looking."

"For what?"

"Isolated spots. Like, _extremely _isolated spots. With no one around."

"Desert? Boat Graveyard?"

"Fuck the Boat Graveyard. _Every_ new cape goes there to test whatever power they have – the PRT watches that place like crazy."

"How do _you _know that?" I asked. Seriously. I was curious.

"PHO. Where else?" Emma responded, rolling her eyes. "_Everyone _knows. Seriously. People have found cameras and shit."

"That's really fucking ominous. They just watch capes and stuff? Isn't it bad to know another cape's identity?"

"Hell yes. I'm fairly certain that they don't give a shit, though, unless said cape is Protectorate or Wards. Pretty sure that they use their identities to coerce them into joining or something. That's why we've gotta find somewhere isolated. Where nowhere else is. And I'm not talking any more scrapyards. Half of those are Merchant territory. We don't want to mess with gangs just yet."

"In the future though?" I asked. Emma gave me a deadpan stare.

"Taylor, we're going to be heroes in Brockton Bay, you really think the gangs are going to be ignored?"

"Fuck no," I replied. "But said gangs are _powerful_. There's a reason they're still here."

"What? You think they're so powerful that the Protectorate couldn't just bring in Legend for an hour or two to clear them out?" Emma snorted. "Nah. They keep them around for a reason. Because it upsets this status quo they've established. This isn't _ideal_, but if they get rid of these gangs, they're going to upset the others. Create power vacuums, send a message that says that they're willing to do whatever it takes to take them out, and then the gangs emulate them – doing whatever it takes. The only gang that I reckon they couldn't take is the ABB. Because, well, Lung."

"That's a shitty status quo."

"Oh god, I know. Believe me." Emma laughed uncomfortably, biting her bottom lip. "I was almost a fucking _sex slave _because of that status quo. Because of… Lung. The ABB. The gangs, this _bullshit_." She looked me in the eye, and I saw the rage in them, the urge, the desire to _end _the way things were. "We can't let that keep happening," she said softly, but her voice, her tone, it was _dangerous_. "The Protectorate, the Wards? They have orders from their higher ups. Their hands are tied. New Wave? Fuck, they try their best, but… they can't cover _everything_. You know the Wards are supposed to just help young parahumans learn how to control and use their powers? Look how they use them here." Emma smiled. "They're fucking child soldiers."

Yeah. Yeah, I could see it. I saw what she meant. I hated that I agreed with her, not that things were messed up, but that they could be so much _better_, if only people weren't being prevented from taking action because of some bullshit idiot giving them all the wrong orders. That wasn't right. That – fuck, it just _wasn't_.

"You see it too. Don't you?" Emma asked me. I gave her a hesitant nod.

"Yeah," I said.

"Then you know what we have to do."

"Yeah," I repeated. Emma smiled at me from across the table.

"Perfect."

**(T)**

I took the plunge the afternoon into freezing cold water, the cold engulfing me like a tidal wave crashing over a person's head. At first, I could barely see, and barely even move. But my power started to compensate for that, as my vision cleared the tiniest bit, enough that I could make out the vague outline of a plastic bag floating in the murky water.

God, this was disgusting. I'd known that the bay was filthy, but this was worse than anything I'd ever imagined. The amount of… garbage that I came across was horrendous. Not just the bags – milk cartons and worn shoes, a strand of _fishing line _with the hook _still attached_. Yeah, I was Inventorying that – no way that shit was safe. Some little fishy was going to come and kill itself on that, one day. Although, I didn't exactly _see _any fish around here, and I was honestly glad about that. There was no way that this would be good for any of them.

And it was _cold _too. I was wearing a bathing suit I'd bought from the money me and Emma had been rewarded for defeating the enemies in the scrapyard. It had been the least revealing one I could find in the store, and the man at the counter had been giving me strange looks, so I'd just gotten out of there as quickly as possible. Now I was wondering if I should have purchased goggles (even though I had around $5 left, and no one sold goggles that cheap).

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Swimming'!**

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Cold Damage Resistance'!**

_Finally._

I resurfaced for air, gasping for breath as my head broke through the surface of the water. I hadn't moved far from the shore, but I felt _tired_. My Stamina had been sapped away even faster than when I'd been running, and that was already pretty bad. I was hoping that eventually, swimming would be just as easy as running was. It would take work, but eventually, I'd manage it. I dipped my head back into the water and started again.

**You have unlocked the Passive Ability 'Increased Lung Capacity'!**

**Swimming is LV. 2!**

**Cold Damage Resistance is LV. 2!**

**Swimming is LV.3!**

**Increased Lung Capacity is LV. 2!**

**Cold Damage Resistance is LV. 3!**

**Cold Damage Resistance is LV. 4!**

Eventually, I had stopped swimming. I sat in the water, my head still above the surface, but the water was still affecting me. Cold Damage Resistance wasn't going as fast as it had, but it was still climbing nicely. Funnily enough, I wasn't even receiving damage from the cold, but powers were finnicky like that. The sky was darkening, the bright sky blue giving way to darker shades as the sun made its annual voyage across the sky.

I had created a Virus Slash, just for the hell of it. It had been a neon green blade, sort of like a crescent in shape. I'd thrown it down towards the seabed, and apparently struck nothing but the sand. But I had to admit, it had been a pretty good glowstick. I'd seen something down there, as it made its way down. A structure of some kind. At first, I'd assumed that it was the distortions of the water. But then I'd realized what it was. It was a sunken ship. An honest to god sunken ship – and an old one. One of those cliché pirate ships you saw in movies. With the whole tall mast and jolly roger. But it had been the design which startled me. Because it had occurred to me then that the ship wasn't something which had already been here. No. This had been created by my power, brought into the world for _something_.

Where I sat, shivering in the cold water, I sent Emma a message.

**Taylor: **I found a shipwreck while I was swimming around.

Emma didn't take long to reply.

**Emma:** You mean the graveyard?

**Taylor:** No, like, an actual pirate ship. I think my power created it, like, spawned it in.

**Emma:** Shit. You didn't do anything, right?

**Taylor:** I didn't go down.

**Emma:** Good. We'll wait till the weekend, then we'll look.

**Taylor:** What about now?

**Emma: **You keep swimming. We don't know what's down there. We need to be as prepared as we possibly can.

**Taylor:** Alright. So, weekend?

**Emma:** Weekend. See you tomorrow.

**Taylor:** Yeah. Bye.

I stood up, walking out of the water and switching out my wet clothes for my dry ones. Thankfully, the water slipped right off my body the moment I got out of the water. Game physics, I supposed.

Emma was right. Preparation was key. We didn't know what was down there. I thought of Virus Slash, a ranged attack which had yet to be levelled up. Something which could be potentially useful, but was currently fairly useless.

I would have to change that.


End file.
